A Dragon's Heart
by Ah Hael
Summary: AU. He is a powerful red air dragon who has become tired of his own existence until he meets a spunky sea dragon.
1. Chapter 1

Title: A Dragon's Heart

Author: Ah Hael

Genre: Alternate Universe, Supernatural, Romance. The dragons are mostly based on the dragon types created by Keri Arthur in Destiny Kills with slight changes for Gakuen Alice

Rating: M

Pairings: Natsume x Mikan, Luca x Aoi, Hotaru x Hayate, Sakurano x Subaru

Spoilers: None

Summary: He is a powerful red air dragon who has become tired of his own existence until he meets a spunky sea dragon.

Disclaimer: Awww come on do I have to say it? Fine. It's not mine and never will be. Happy?

* * *

A Dragon's Heart – Chapter 1

Why the hell was he fighting back? It would just be so much easier to let his opponent kill him. To finally ease the ache in his deadened soul. No more screams, no more destruction, no more death, just sweet oblivion. Oblivion definitely, for he doubted his pathetic excuse for a soul would be allowed to crossover like other worthy dragon souls to the forever plains.

On reflex rather than will, he dodged the bronze tail tip that was aimed for his eyes determined to blind him. In retaliation he shot a quick spurt of fire into the dragon hunter's face forcing him back.

Stupid bronze hunter.

With a powerful sweep of his wings he pulled back, his mind and body already preparing for his next attack even though he had no real interest in his own survival.

As shimmering red wings beat against the early morning wind currents to pull his enormous body up to a higher vantage point, something silvery shot up at him from below. For a heart stopping half-second he thought that Youichi had recklessly joined the fight but the thought was quickly disposed of. That was no dragon. What ever it was it had come without warning and had grazed his wing causing the whole tip to go numb.

_What the hell?_ He thought while trying to shake the tingles out of his wing-tip without plummeting to his death in the sea below. Looking down, his keen dragon eyes picked out the human boat easily. It was one of those high speed luxury types that could easily have been mistaken for wealthy vacationers if it weren't for the serious weaponry pointed at him. He was lucky that whatever they shot at him hadn't made a direct hit or he would have fallen out of the sky for sure.

Annoyed, he gave the bronze a disgusted sneer. _Needed some pathetic humans to back you up huh?_ By dragon society standards, hunters were the lowest of the low. Even dramans –human/dragon hybrids- held higher social standing than these rogues that abandoned their clans and hunted down their own kind for money.

They sold dragon parts to foolish humans who believed that dragon flesh could make them immortal, beautiful, powerful or a hundred other bogus reasons. But mostly they hunted other dragons for scientific groups that loved to poke and prod and dissect, trying to duplicate the magic that gave dragons their power.

Stupid human scientists.

He had to admit he was also a little annoyed with himself. He should have expected it. Where there was a dragon hunter, there was usually a human paying it to hunt its own kind. Now he had a battle on two fronts.

Nothing he couldn't handle.

If he really wanted to, that is.

A part of him didn't really care if he lived through this fight. To put it bluntly, he was quite sick of his own existence. He was tired. Not just of the bloodshed and the destruction, tired of politics, his grandfather and his uncle, tired of people wanting more from him than he had to give.

It was true that he still had Aoi, Luka and a few select others he could trust, but the cons of his life were starting to outweigh the pros. There had been a few missions he had done for his clan lately where he had seriously contemplated giving up, but so far he remained alive and not sure why that was so.

Truthfully, what was he waiting for? Dragons lived an average of two hundred years and already at nineteen he was fed up with his life. Was this what he had to look forward to for the next two centuries? Maybe that was what made his grandfather such a sadistic son-of-a-bitch by his forties.

Death seemed like such a tempting option.

Nah, it would be too embarrassing if he died at the hands of a lowly bronze and a handful of humans. Not to mention he owed them for trying to snatch a child from his clan.

It was only by mere fluke that he and Luka were with the younglings this morning.

Aoi had agreed to take the young ones out that morning to practice their flying. Seasoned dragons could probably fly high enough at any time of day and avoid attracting human attention, but for children just training the only times it was safe was around twilight and dawn when it was light enough to safely fly by but still dark enough to conceal from the prying eyes of humans.

The only reason Natsume decided to go along was to keep and eye on Youichi. The little silver dragon should not have had his first flying lesson until he was ten. Ten was the standard, just like Natsume and his sister and all the other dragons in their clan. But just like Natsume, the little runt had been trying to figure out how to fly on his own since he was about three years old and it had been all the clan could do just to keep him grounded.

Remembering how stubborn he was at that age he decided to let the boy go with the others almost a full two years too early because he knew that the kid would have just found some way to sneak out anyway. He could clearly remember when he and Luka had done the exact same thing when they were his age. He could also remember how long it took to heal his broken arm and Luka's broken leg afterward. At least this way they could keep a watch over the kid and keep him out of trouble.

It also didn't hurt that he could tease Luka about Aoi in the process.

* * *

_**Several minutes earlier:**_

Natsume found it hard to keep his face straight as he watched Luka's gaze track Aoi's flight adoringly. "Tch, you're pathetic."

Mortified that he'd been caught staring the blond shot him a sour look "Shut up." He mumbled while his face turned beet red.

"Honestly Luka, what are you waiting for?"

"You know why I can't." Luka hissed at him showing his frustration. Natsume rolled his eyes at him.

"Not this again. Aoi is not a racist like our grandfather. She has never cared that you were half human and she never will."

"Your grandfather will never approve of our courtship and you know it. He will only want her to mate with a pure blood dragon with good social standing."

"Yeah well you make a better dragon than most of the pure bloods that I've met." Natsume growled while scanning the skies. As he predicted, Youichi was tiring easily and was starting to lag behind the rest of the group. He was just about to ask his sister to force the kid to return when movement in the air above the little silver dragon caught his attention.

Natsume, who had been standing in his human form on a cliff overlooking the ocean, instantly leapt off and transformed in mid-air. At the same time he yelled mentally to both Luka and Aoi _"Dragon hunter above! Aoi, Luka! Get the kids out of here!"_

Strong dragons had the ability to communicate telepathically with their loved ones whom they had a deep bond with. Unfortunately his bond wasn't strong enough to warn any of the kids. He had to trust the other two to get them clear while he took care of the hunter. He heard his sister shriek a warning signal to the others to return and Luka who had transformed as well gave a trumpet of his own to let the others know he was there to support them.

The dragon hunter hearing the screams, must have realized that it had been spotted because it dove headlong at Youichi with its claws open ready force the silver from the sky. Before the claws could ever reach their target though, Natsume shot a huge fireball into its path, and then rammed the bronze dragon with his much larger red frame.

* * *

Natsume pulled his focus back to the present. Yes, at the very least he owed these bastards for trying to grab Youichi. Attacking the baby of the group like they were some kind of animals, at the very least he should roast them in their own skins.

The bronze dove at him with its claws outstretched. When it had attacked Youichi earlier he had noticed the odd glint to the other dragon's claws but now that he was closer he could see they weren't natural dragon claws at all. At this distance he could easily make out that they were metal and they had a foul toxic smell to them.

_Poison claws?_ He realized with a jolt, becoming even angrier. Bastard was planning on poisoning a child? It was obvious that he would have to take the hunter out first and leave the humans for later. Flapping his wings he tried to draw the fight with the bronze higher but after a few taunting flares it was obvious that the bronze wasn't stupid enough to challenge him on its own.

Air dragons' society was a hierarchy system where each clan (or cliques as they were called in parts of the world) was ruled by a king who was usually a red or gold dragon as they were the strongest and largest type. There were a few clans who for whatever reason had no red or gold and chose a black or silver as their leader, but any other color would have been too weak to keep a clan secure.

Natsume may be a young red, but even the most experienced bronze fighter would have very little chance against him in one on one combat. The bronze clearly knew that because it wasn't straying far from the human boat.

The red dragon hovered for a moment trying to strategize. With the hunter and its poison claws and the humans shooting things at him, he'd have to keep both of them in sight at all times. His best bet was to try and take out the hunter first, but he would have to deal with its claws first. Maybe he could burn the poison off?

While he was deliberating the humans shot another one of their stun-harpoon-type-things at him, forcing him to swerve, leaving an opening for the bronze to attack. Much to the bronze's horror Natsume recovered quicker than expected and easily aimed his fire directly at the poisoned claws again forcing the hunter to break off.

Damn, the claws still had the toxic smell on them. He'd have to find a way to get behind the bronze. He'd also noticed that with those last two attacks they had been trying to herd him towards the cliff where he had taken off from. The cliff was a half-moon shape and if they somehow managed to get him out of the sky he would be surrounded by rock on three sides and water below.

Yeah right. There was no way in hell he was going to allow them to box him like that.

He was preparing for a quick fire burst to distract the bronze when a thunderous noise from below distracted both him and the other dragon. It was so loud it made him think of two trains crashing into each other. If that was something they shot at him, he could be in real trouble.

Down below, human boat was in chaos. The people on it were scurrying around in a panic constantly looking over the sides at the water. Neither Natsume nor the bronze could comprehend the odd behavior until they both spotted something moving amazingly fast in the water on a direct course for the boat.

On first glance Natsume couldn't make it out because it was too deep in the water. The only thing he could tell was that something very large was moving very fast underwater. He would have guessed it was a whale, but as it came closer to the surface it was clearly far too long and slender to be a whale. Whatever it was, it was huge; almost as large as him in his dragon form.

With a deafening crash it slammed into the boat causing the fairly large size boat to temporarily lift out of the water, sending all on board to either over the side or onto the deck. The sheer power behind the hit shocked him. While the humans were still sprawled in various positions stunned by the impact an enormous tail sprung from the water a dozen or so meters away.

The morning sunlight glinted off jewel bright scales in iridescent shades of blue and green mixed with ribbons of gold. The tail gave a quick flick that created a wave large enough to sweep a few more people overboard.

A sea dragon? Impossible! There hasn't been a sea dragon sighted in these waters in twenty years!


	2. Chapter 2

A Dragon's Heart – Chapter 2

Natsume and the dragon hunter snapped back to their own fight at exactly the same time. Or rather, they both realized that the bronze's backup was unavailable at the same time. The hunter dove towards the human boat probably in a last ditch effort to save himself by saving them. Natsume followed close behind latching on to the bronze's wings from behind.

The dragon hunter thrashed madly and roared while trying to buck the red off. He kept whacking Natsume with his tail and tried repeatedly to get his claws into some part of the red's flesh.

Down in the water, the humans still on the boat started shooting at the water randomly in an effort to scare away their attacker. One panicked human came up with the brilliant idea to throw something explosive into the water sending a huge spout of water into the air.

Alarmed that he couldn't see the sea dragon anywhere in the churning water, Natsume spun around with all his might and launched the bronze into the cliff face, making sure that he viciously clawed down both wings rendering them both useless. It was a wound that any healthy dragon could recover from eventually; if they survived the crash into the cliff or the fall into the water that is. But given the way half the rock face was coming down around it, the red doubted the bronze would survive the fall.

Turning his attention to the water below the red spotted much to his horror, the sea dragon whose attention was still on fighting the humans on the boat, surface near the cliff face he had just destroyed. It was the first time he had ever really seen a sea dragon. They were normally isolationists that ignored their flying cousins but for some reason this one had chosen to come to his aid.

And he was about to repay their help by dumping a bronze dragon hunter and half a cliff face on their head.

The sea dragon had surfaced to cause a wave big enough to capsize the boat completely and was clearly unaware of what was happening above it. Natsume only had enough time to let out a harsh bugle of alarm before his view of the sea dragon was obscured with falling dragon hunter and rocks.

_Stupid careless fool!_ Natsume yelled in his head, not sure if he was yelling at himself or the sea dragon. Most likely both.

The red dragon swooped low passing over the human boat and using his fire to destroy it and the remaining survivors. He couldn't afford to let them live with the chance they might come back to try and snatch one of his clan again.

Once they were taken care of, he tried to find the sea dragon again. He circled over the area twice without spotting anything before climbing higher.

Where did it go? Was it still alive? As he rose higher he was surprised to find what he believed to be the sea dragon several hundred meters away. It was incredible how fast they could travel in their element.

He watched as the dragon tried to make its way towards a small cove a several kilometers away. Concerned, and a little curious, he decided to follow to make sure it got to shore okay.

He took the opportunity to study his almost ally.

Air dragons were like the classic European fable dragons. They had large muscular bodies, leathery wings, and the ability to control fire. Sea dragons however looked more like the classic Asian dragon. Although they had the spiked tail, teeth and claws like an air dragon, they were long and serpentine and their shorter legs doubled as flippers for steering in the water.

The sea dragon managed to get about two thirds of the way to the cove before it started to slow down dramatically. By then it had come closer to the surface and Natsume could easily see the darkening of the water around it. Clearly it was wounded and bleeding badly. Feeling a bit responsible for its injuries, Natsume figured the least he could do was to try and help it to shore. If need be, he could even offer a bit of first aid.

When the sea dragon's movements started to get more erratic, he swooped low and smacked the water with his tail startling it enough to move forward a little more. He repeated the process a few more times but on the fourth try when the cove was almost within swimming distance, the sea dragon barely moved.

_Come on; don't give up on me yet_. He encouraged silently in his head, _just a little further._ He slapped the water again but the dragon didn't do much more than twitch and flick its tail.

_Don't you dare die on me now! You're almost there! _He thought alarmed. Quickly, he looked at the shore then down at the dragon in the water. It was still too far to swim, especially if he was dragging someone. _"Luka! I need you to meet me down at the beach and bring medical supplies!"_ he yelled mentally.

Carefully he pulled back and circled around. He would only have one shot at this. Once too much of his wings touched the water his dragon form would be useless and he would need to change into his human one to avoid drowning. He angled himself to come up from behind the other dragon and swooped as low over the water as he dared. At the last moment, dove his tail into the water and wrapped it around the lithe body of the sea dragon.

The shock he got the instant he made contact almost had him dropping his passenger back into the water.

With the exception of size, generally, dragon genders aren't normally very apparent in their dragon form. Genitals aren't visible in dragon form and they never have sexual contact in anything other than their human form. But the instant Natsume touched the sea dragon and their mutual energies clashed he was absolutely one hundred percent certain she was female and he wanted nothing more in that moment than to have her sleek body coiled hot and tight around his from snout to tail tip.

Ruthlessly shaking off the unexpected surge of dragon lust he used the last beat of his wings to throw them both another couple dragon lengths closer to shore. When he hit the water he transformed while broadcasting his energy hoping she could understand what he wanted of her. Miraculously, she must have felt something from him because she transformed as well revealing a slim, badly damaged female body, wearing a torn t-shirt and shorts, floating in the water. He quickly hooked his arms around her torso and tried his best to carry them both to shore while ignoring the inappropriate lust that she seemed to trigger when they touched.

He didn't get far when Hotaru and Luka showed up on a strange looking water scooter that was shaped like a goose. "Natsume! Are you alright?" the blond asked.

Panting with exhaustion, he nodded his head "Yes, but we need something to carry her in." he said indicating the burden in his arms.

"Who is that?" Luka asked while Hotaru pulled a small box out of a side compartment in her scooter.

"Sea dragon. For some stupid reason the idiot tried to help me." He answered gruffly. Even he couldn't say if the sudden hoarseness of his voice was because of irritation or raging hormones.

Tbc

* * *

Thank you to those of you who reviewed!

A few of you noticed that I had said this story was rated 'M' in chapter 1 yet I set it up as 'T' on . Okay here's the deal. The story will eventually be 'M' rated, but not for quite a while so I marked it as 'T'. Now having said that, I've been debating whether I should have just left it at 'M' because before that there will be moments of insight into Natsume's brain and… well… he is a bit of a pervert and I don't want to corrupt any impressionable minds with his perverseness. Chances are I'll probably change it soon so if there is anything that offends anyone let me know right away.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: No, I do not own Gakuen Alice or Destiny Kills… yadda, yadda, yadda… blah, blah, blah… whatever… not mine okay?

* * *

A Dragon's Heart – Chapter 3

Luka looked shocked and Hotaru's eyebrows raised a fraction at this information. Like him, neither of them had ever seen a real sea dragon.

Hotaru pulled a cord on the packet she was holding and it expanded into a small inflatable boat that was shaped like a turtle which she tied off to her goose. Luka hopped into the boat and reached forward help move the woman onto the boat and for just the tiniest of moments Natsume had the urge to snarl at him for trying to touch her.

Luka must have sensed something in his energy because he paused for a moment to give him a puzzled look. Natsume gave himself a firm mental kick in the head before he passed the woman up. What the hell was wrong with him? Maybe the woman was part siren to cause such a fierce response in him.

Once they were all in the boat and moving to shore, Luka took a small first aid kit out of the backpack he was wearing. "Jeeze, she's a mess. What happened to her?"

From the moment she had come out of the water, Natsume had not taken his eyes off her. Luka was right, she was a mess. Her face was mostly covered in cuts and scrapes, and the whole right half of her face was swollen and bruised beyond recognition. It was impossible to tell what she normally looked like, much less if she was pretty or ugly.

Her body didn't fare much better. The bruising continued down most of her right side, and from her left hip and down both her slim legs were deep claw marks. Obviously the bronze had tried to take her with it on its way down. Natsume had to admire her spunk though. It was amazing she managed to get as close to the cove as she did in her condition.

The red quickly outlined to the other two what had happened and Natsume was surprisingly grateful to see Hotaru's brother waiting on the beach for them along with several others from his select group. Before he could even offer thanks, Hotaru gave him a flat stare.

"You owe me." She said coldly. Typical Hotaru, everything was about what she could get out of it. Schooling his features he gave her a cold look in return and raised a single brow.

"I might be willing to let you keep that room you tinker in as your private lab." He really didn't want to waste his time negotiating right now. He would much rather spend it trying to fix up the sea dragon.

"For coming to get you and the sea dragon, the lab is a given." She responded with a flat uncompromising tone "But I expect you to supply it in return for calling my brother for medical assistance."

"I didn't ask you…"

"Please, your energy is flaring so badly it's making my skin itch and you only do that when you are angry or worried. I'm sure everyone on the beach can feel it by now too.

A bit embarrassed, Natsume realized that the cold little black dragon with a penchant for tinkering with inventions was correct. As much as he was trying not to physically touch the sea dragon, he couldn't seem to stop his spiritual energy from touching and caressing hers. Moreover, after he had seen how injured she was, he was unconsciously trying to feed his strength into her. As if by doing so he could somehow will her to be healed.

Who was he kidding? He didn't have any gift for healing. _Destruction is my only gift_, he thought to himself bitterly. Reluctantly he pulled his energy back but was secretly pleased when the mystery woman's weakening energy tried to grab and cling to his to prevent it from retreating.

Damn, if this woman was even a tenth as attractive as his response to her indicated, then he was going to have to bed her. It wouldn't even be an option for him.

Dragon natures were fairly true to the old legends. They liked to steal and hoard glittery treasures and they left mass destruction and death everywhere they went. In fact, if one looked close enough at many of the crime families spread throughout the world that specialized in theft or assassination you would probably find they were actually a dragon clan in disguise.

Another nature that they were true to was stealing pretty women. A young dragon's sexual appetite was voracious. It was very common in most clans for young dragons to sexually bully or even openly assault weaker dragons, the half-human dramans, or the handful of human servants they kept in the clan.

Sometimes they didn't even care if their victim was the opposite gender. On two different occasions Luka had been cornered by young pure bloods who thought his pretty face and weak half-dragon body would be a perfect target for their raging hormones. That is, until they found out Luca wasn't as weak and easy a target as they thought and he wiped the floor with their asses.

For Natsume as the only other true red dragon aside from his grandfather in the clan and the most likely heir, sex was never a problem. Women had always been provided for him. They would be waiting for him when he went to bed, and they would be gone before he woke up. It wasn't something he was proud of or even something he wanted to talk about, but keeping concubines in the clan was better than having a red dragon in the throes of dragon lust rampaging about. It was necessity, pure and simple, no romance involved.

For those like Aoi and Luka who still believed in romance, there was the belief that when a dragon falls in love and mates they will be faithful for life. He'd seen it happen with his mother and step father, but for himself, his hopes were not very high. He had yet to meet anyone who made him feel anything stronger than not-too-annoying-almost-tolerable other than Aoi and Luka. Even Hotaru and the others of his special group barely rated as friends.

So it came as a double shock for Natsume who only ever saw having sex as a precaution against disaster that he would not only want a woman he hadn't even really met, it was that he would want her _badly_.

It probably wouldn't even matter what she looked like. The way his body was thrumming, nothing short of finding out she had a very dedicated mate would hold him back.

When they reached the shore, Natsume let Luka repeat his explanation of events to the others while he watched Hotaru's brother Subaru send his healing energy into the unconscious woman.

Secretly he had always been jealous of the black dragon's healing gift. All dragons had the gift of flight, speed and fire, but over the past few generations, secondary gifts called alices had started showing up. Unlike most dragons in their clan, Subaru had a legitimate job as a medical doctor. His alice allowed him to use his energy to speed up healing in mystical creatures.

His annoying sister Hotaru had that weird tinkering gift of hers and was determined to find a way to perfectly merge mechanical science and magic together. Her mate, Hayate, could move the wind and even Luka had a gift that allowed him to talk to most animals.

As far as he could tell, Natsume himself had no true alice power. Unless you call being ten times more powerful with fire than anyone in his clan and the ability to use it at night an alice power. But what good was that? He was a dragon. He could burn and destroy without the extra firepower thank you very much. And who really cared if he could also use fire at night?

For a moment he wondered idly and rather unexpectedly what abilities sea dragons had. Looking at the injuries of the woman lying before him, he guessed self-healing wasn't one of them. She still looked horrible.

She was a slim thing. More of an athletic build than scrawny he guessed, judging by the way her soggy clothes were clinging to her lean frame. Her shirt and shorts had been torn in a few places revealing a peach colored bra and panties with little white polka-dots and white lacy trim. They should have looked silly, even childish, but instead the printed undergarments looked… sassy… was the best word he could come up with. They were kind of sexy, with a cheeky, fun, flair to them.

A mental image was starting to form in his head about the kind of woman she was and the more details he picked up the more interested he became.

Studying her a bit longer, a crease appeared between his brows. "Imai," he demanded gruffly causing both siblings and a few others to look at him "why isn't she healing?" By now the gouges in her legs and the bruises on her face should have noticeably faded.

Subaru gave him an irritated look "I'm not certain. My power can't seem to reach her and her spirit energy is almost non-existent. Are you sure she is a sea dragon?"

Natsume gave him a hard glare for questioning his word "I saw her transform myself." Eyeing the wounds on her legs he pointed to them. "The claws on the hunter weren't natural. They were metal and smelled toxic. Could a poison be stopping her from healing?"

The dragon born doctor paused in his thoughts for a moment then nodded. "If it were a drug to somehow cut us off from our power then yes, it's possible. Actually, it would make sense. Especially if it forced us to drop into our human shapes. It would make us more manageable."

Natsume growled in irritation while the others on the beach looked varying degrees of displeased. No sane dragon wanted to be a laboratory test subject and the thought of being powerless around a group of human scientists bent on picking you apart was disconcerting. With an irritated growl he turned to the doctor again. "We need to get out of here and I've got to inform my grandfather the clan might be in danger. Imai, do what you can and we will take her with us for now."

That caused a few raised eyebrows. "You're taking her with us?" his sister, who had arrived with Koko and Mochu, asked surprised.

"She stuck her neck out for me. It'd be a crappy thing to do to just leave her here to bleed to death when there may be other hunters close by."

Koko, who's alice was a very annoying ability to see into a person's heart and what hid there scoffed at him. "Are you sure that is the only reason? You seem to be awfully interested in her. Bet she's got a hot face to match the sweet body."

Without even putting conscious thought into it, Natsume summoned fire from his fingers and shot it at his almost friend. The idiot was lucky for his mind reading ability that allowed him to read attacks because that was the only thing that saved him from his smart mouth.

The others on the beach who knew Koko wouldn't make such a dangerous accusation if it wasn't at least partially true all looked at him with different expressions of amusement and surprise. He gave them all a harsh glare. "We are going now!" he barked trying to ignore the heat from his cheeks.

First he was attacked by a dragon hunter, then overwhelmed by unexpected lust for a stranger, and now humiliated in front of his subordinates.

This day was total crap.

* * *

Terms

Air Dragons – Look just like classic European dragons. Huge bodies with leathery wings, sharp talon-like claws, spiked tails. They come in a wide variety of colors with red and gold being the largest and strongest followed by silver and black. The strongest color dragon is the leader of the clan or clique. They have the ability to fly in dragon form and can control fire and move with super speed in human or dragon form. Air dragons can only use fire during the day with the exception of Natsume. They are also physically stronger than the average human. They are a patriarchal species and the males have control over fertility when mating.

Dramans – Human/Air Dragon hybrids. In the past dramans were killed at birth or condemned to slavery to the clan they are born in. Traditional clans dislike them because they dilute their noble race. Dramans usually have different bits of full air dragon powers. They may be able to transform, or may use fire, but the use is abnormal. Transformations can be painful, fire use may be weak, a draman may even use fire at night. Because they are generally weaker, they are a constant target by full blooded dragons. It is common for them to be raped by a full blood dragon in the throes of dragon lust.

Sea Dragons – They look like classic Asian dragons with serpentine bodies with short legs. They come in pretty much any color a fish can come in, which means just about any color. They are isolationists choosing to live apart from other magical creatures. They live in small family groups rather than clans. Sea dragons can exist underwater in both dragon and human form. They are a matriarchal species and females control fertility. Powers will be discussed later.

* * *

AN: The above terms are taken from the book Destiny Kills by Keri Arthur. I have added to the characteristics a bit in parts that are not covered in the book but I need for my story.


	4. Chapter 4

A Dragon's Heart – Chapter 4

The day never got better.

His grandfather and uncle acted like it was his fault that the hunter and scientists showed up in their territory. Because of that, they made him waste most of his day warning the clan and upgrading security on the clan's estate. He also took some time out to check the kids who were flying that morning.

Until the Hotaru's new security sensors were in place, everything that could fly was grounded. For the young ones it didn't really matter because they were still too badly shaken to even want to fly. Especially little Youichi.

The little guy tried to act tough and made several boasts about how he didn't need rescuing, and how he could have taken care of himself, but the kid was practically quaking when he said it. His alice power allowed him to summon spirits for protection and regardless of whatever false bravado he was trying to show, spirits kept popping out of nowhere to comfort him.

Natsume couldn't help but feel for the kid. He probably felt so grown up this morning being allowed to fly with the others. Only to have it ruined by being attacked and almost stolen away. Not only would the kid feel terrified, but frustrated too, because there was no way that anyone would let him fly now.

After Natsume had made the appropriate comments about how brave all the kids were and how well they managed to get themselves to safety without causing more problems he tried to leave. He was eager to see the sea dragon and see if she had improved. Damn his grandfather and uncle for finding a way to keep him away from her all day!

He was about to leave when Youichi latched onto his arm and shone enormous green eyes at him. The red dragon hid his frustration and tried to excuse himself saying he had other business to attend to, but he couldn't break away from the little silver. The runt was attached to him like a barnacle and nothing short of leaving his arm, or dragging the kid with him was going to get him out of that room.

"Yes Youichi?" he asked trying to hide his irritation at the delay.

"Is it true there was a sea dragon with you?" Youichi asked quietly. Natsume suddenly found himself the centre of dozens of curious stares. Damn. He realized too late how careless he had been. If the kids knew, that meant the whole clan knew.

It wasn't that he was trying to hide her presence on the clan's estate, it was just a sort of standard for he and his select group to keep their business (meaning Natsume's) to themselves and not bother to tell his arsehole of a grandfather. Since it was his people that were the ones to collect the sea dragon, he just figured that they would be able to conceal her like they did with everything else that related to him.

He should have known the canny son of a bitch would never let a secret like this be kept from him. Hell, he probably knew she was here before Natsume had even reported the attempted kidnapping. Now all these delays made sense. They were probably meant to keep him as far away from her as possible.

He had to get back to her now.

Of course he needed his arm first. "Yes actually there was, but she was badly hurt. I was going to go see how she was doing. Would you like to come?" he asked in that voice that adults always used on children, while trying not to gnash his teeth for the delay.

The little silver nodded enthusiastically and remained clung to his arm. At that point Anna, who was watching over the kids at the time, ran up to them. "Here you can take these to her You-chan." She said then handed him the flowers that had been sitting in a vase on her desk. To Natsume she quickly whispered. "Be careful with him Natsume, he's had a terrible scare and he's always looked up to you. Don't let him do anything reckless just to try and impress you okay?"

Without another word, Natsume and Youichi left. They got about thirty paces before the red's patience snapped. Irritated at the boy's shorter legs and obviously slower pace, Natsume grabbed Youichi and flung him onto his back piggy back style, forcing Youichi to let go of his arm and grip his neck and shoulders. "Hold on." he warned gruffly before using his dragon speed to make the twenty minute walk across the estate compound in a little over two minutes.

As he neared the small house that Dr. Imai used as a small clinic, he knew his suspicions were right. His grandfather's bodyguards were positioned all around the small house-like structure.

Instantly, he felt the overwhelming urge to snarl and attack, but before he could, he felt Youichi's small form tense up against him and his magical energy quiver anxiously. Because they were in direct physical contact, Natsume could easily pick up the kid's anxiety and it was enough to give him the strength to gain control over his baser emotions.

What the hell was wrong with him today? The raging lust was bad enough, but homicidal possessiveness? It was almost a blessing that the kid was there because he had stopped him from doing something incredibly stupid.

No matter how much he hated the old man, there was no way he could attack his grandfather. Not yet anyway. As long as the bastard still wore the clan's ring of succession Natsume was still only the second most powerful dragon in the clan. The old man would remain the strongest dragon until his health deteriorated to a point where ring's power amplification would no longer be of help. And when that day came… When that day came he would take the bastard down and free those in the clan who had been suffering under the old man's miserable rule.

As calmly as he could, Natsume walked up to the clinic with barely a glance at the guards stationed around it. They knew better than to interfere with him unless he was directly endangering their master.

Upon entering the building, his uncle Persona and Imai stepped out of the treatment room. "Natsume. Quite a find you have. Pity about the condition she's in."

"Uncle Serio." He growled in a barely civil tone. "I was just coming to check her condition, and Youichi here wanted to give her some flowers."

His uncle's eyes flicked distastefully at the child as if he were a lower life form then nodded absently at him.

Just behind him, Dr. Imai's expression was stony but his eyes were conveying strong hints of anger at the intruders in his clinic and apology to Natsume for being powerless to stop them.

Dismissing his uncle's existence, he set Youichi on the ground and strode purposefully at the treatment room. He didn't even manage to get one full step into the room before he lost it again. And this time he really lost it.

One glance and all the anger and energy he'd barely kept controlled flared and lashed out to sting everyone in the clinic. Youichi yelped and even Imai and Persona appeared uncomfortable but he couldn't bring himself to care. He couldn't have controlled it even if he wanted to. His grandfather -bastard that he was- was sitting in a chair next to the bed, touching **his** sea dragon.

_Get your filthy, disgusting, evil, bastard hands off her!_ His mind screamed violently while heat started pouring off of him in waves causing the very air around him to shimmer. Somewhere in the back of his mind the rational part of him was screaming that if he didn't gain control of himself he would start shooting fire. And that would be a _very_ bad thing.

Unfortunately, it was the more primal part of him that was in control now. He could vaguely grasp that what he was doing was dangerous to everyone he cared about, but he couldn't see the way back to his sanity. All he could see was the person he loathed most tucking a lock of hair behind the ear of his sea dragon and caressing her cheek with the backs of his fingers while he was at it.

_I'm going to roast you alive._

Again, Youichi saved him. Spirits started coming out of everywhere and covered the sea dragon in a hazy protective blanket. The odd sight managed to kick a few of his brain cells back into working mode enough so he could realize that if he continued to lose his temper, the first casualty would probably be the woman lying unconscious on the bed and the second would be the boy protecting her.

Gritting his teeth fiercely and clenching his fists he beat down his rage like it was a living thing. Man this day really was crap. How many times had he lost control so far? Probably more times than he had in the past year. Two years even.

Throughout the whole thing, his grandfather had remained completely impassive. Only when the young red had regained control over himself did the old man give him a disdainful sniff. "Really Natsume, barging in here and flinging your energy about like some sort of caveman with a club? How uncouth. Even your mother had better manners."

Natsume stiffened at the insult to both him and his mother. Both stung badly but he didn't have the luxury of retaliating. He'd already behaved atrociously. If he said anything wrong now there would be serious consequences. The kind that the people close to him would have to pay for.

The two red dragons eyed each other coldly for several long moments with an intensity that forced the others watching into uncomfortable silence. Once he was convinced that Natsume wasn't rising to the bait, his grandfather returned his gaze to the woman on the bed.

It was almost a tiny bit of relief that she looked no better than she did that morning. Her hair was ratty and matted with blood; there were still puffy bruises and cuts running up and down the length of her. She was certainly no beauty queen. If she had been attractive the old man would definitely have tried claiming her for himself.

"You've been quite rough here with our guest." The old man commented.

Shit. That one comment sent all his hopes that the sea dragon was too unattractive to interest the old man down the sewer.

Although there had been no inflection or emphasis in the statement, a cold chill ran up Natsume's spine. He knew the word 'our' actually meant 'mine'. That meant the bastard was still going to try and take her.

Quickly his mind calculated the damage that would be caused if he forced his own claim on the woman. He would be risking all of the people under his care. Was their safety worth someone he had never really met? Perhaps she might even wake up and decide on her own that she likes the old bastard.

Natsume hated to admit it, but despite being in his nineties, his grandfather had the look of a handsome man in his late thirties. A lot of women in their clan found him very attractive and were more than willing to indulge him in a few nights of entertainment. Natsume could be worrying about protecting this girl for nothing.

And yet, even as he thought it, something didn't feel right. She didn't feel like his grandfather's kind of girl.

She felt like his kind of girl.

He wanted her to be his kind of girl.

God, he hoped she was his kind of girl.

Never before has he responded to a female like he has responded to her. Never before has he touched a woman and felt that basic and very primal stirring deep within his dragon core.

Despite his cold attitude, he cared very deeply for the people in his special group. Aoi, Luka, the Imais, Kokoro, Youichi and all the others, they were his family and he would die to protect them. And yet, he didn't think he could let this woman go any more than he could let any of them go.

It was still too early to say what he felt about her. Heck, the woman had yet to wake up and meet him! But deep in that dragon core of his, in a soul he had long thought was dead there were now whispers that hinted that the woman before him could be in his future.

That meant he couldn't let his grandfather have her.

"Yes she was heavily injured while trying to help me. So I thought that the least I could do would be to treat her wounds and offer her _my hospitality_." He answered the man with a slight emphasis on 'my hospitality'.

The old man caught the hint and for just a fraction of a second, his nostrils flared and something dark swirled in his eyes. Whatever it was, it was gone before the young red could identify it. "Indeed." He said coldly. "Well then, when she is healed up and better you must bring her to the main house for dinner. In the mean time, do take good care of our guest."

tbc

* * *

Author's Notes: I just wanted to take some time to answer a very good point made by SeraphMia. Why would Luka and Hotaru come in human form to aid Natsume? Well there are a couple of reasons. One reason I guess I've not explained well enough and one I have yet to explain. The first point, dragons are large and graceful in the air, but are about as graceful as a turtle on its back in the water. They also have extremely sharp claws. Any mistake they make in grabbing someone from the water, and they run the risk of drowning themselves or shredding their passenger. I had hoped I had shown this with Natsume's attempted rescue where he ended up in the water too, but I guess I should have added more detail. I'm sorry this wasn't explained well enough.

For the other point, I was going to get to the other part in the next chapter, but I guess it doesn't change anything if I discuss it now. Some of you may have noticed that when dragons transform they keep their clothes rather than appear naked. Yes, this means they can extend their transformation magic to keep them on (sorry no accidental naked Natsume here). The magic however is limited. They might be able to carry a wallet or cash in their pockets but too many extra items like a first aid kit and they would have to be in a bag tied off to a limb. In dragon form, that bag would be visible, but relatively useless to the dragon unless until they change to their human form.

As an odd side note, some of you may have issues with the whole Ruka/Luka spelling thing. I know that the L/R sound can be a little vague and almost interchangeable at times in Japanese but I decided to go with the L rather than the R. Why? Because Luka's mother is European and 'Luka' is a genuine European name with the L spelling. It would be how his mother would spell it.

Does anyone have any other questions? I'll do my best to answer them.


	5. Chapter 5

A Dragon's Heart – Chapter 5

"I never did like that man." Shuichi Sakurano announced to the room when Natsume's grandfather left. The man was standing in the doorway to the waiting room holding a tray set to serve tea. The fact that he had waited until _after_ the old man left to serve the tea was not lost on Natsume.

Reluctant to leave the sea dragon's side, Natsume took over the chair his grandfather had vacated and accepted the offered tea. Imai and Sakurano pulled in a few more chairs and followed suit while Youichi put his flowers in a water pitcher by the bed.

"That's because your intuition tells you he is an evil bastard with a god complex, and your intuition has never been wrong." Natsume said, sipping his tea.

He had always liked the blue dragon. Sakurano may not be very strong in a fight, but he had a quick and clever mind. Not only that, but he seemed to have multiple alices. Between his intuition and teleportation he seemed to manage to be anywhere and everywhere he was needed at exactly the right time, and the man's advice was always helpful in a tight pinch.

The truth was it was actually Sakurano and Tobita Yuu who ran 'Natsume's group'. The business and day to day parts anyways. When it came to political matters and dealing with his grandfather or uncle the only one who could handle them was Natsume.

Another benefit to Sakurano was that he was Subaru's mate. Strange to think that being gay was a benefit -not that Natsume had any problems with it-. Honestly, it just worked to his advantage.

Dr. Imai was a first rate dragon born doctor and an excellent healer. That made him priceless in any clan. Dragons may live longer lives than humans but they were just as susceptible to mundane diseases. Worse, without a healer who understood their special needs, a dragon could easily die from a perfectly treatable human ailment.

It was only the fact that he was gay that kept the black dragon on Natsume's side of the clan compound. If the man had not openly displayed his 'deviant tendencies' his grandfather would surely have snatched him up straight out of medical school and kept the doctor locked away exclusively for himself.

Apparently, in his grandfather's mind it was acceptable to bully, possibly even rape a weaker male while in the grip of dragon lust, but for two men to love one another was not. Don't ask Natsume to explain that logic because it was lost on him too.

That was kind of the theme for Natsume's select group. Whatever his grandfather didn't like he welcomed. Not surprisingly, he found quite a few treasures in his grandfather's cast offs. Obviously Imai's healing, but along with him came his inventor sister whose inventions they had been secretly selling under an equally secret company they had created.

Subaru's mate Sakurano was brilliant at handling day to day affairs with his people. He managed to keep them mostly out of trouble and under his grandfather's or uncle's radar. He saw to their health, finances, and schooling, whatever they needed. The blue was almost like a surrogate parent. If someone in Natsume's group had a problem, they usually went to Shuichi. Most times Natsume never even heard about it.

Tobita Yuu and his mate, Nonoko Osagawa were terribly weak green and blue dragons. Neither had any ambition for fighting and preferred scholastic studies. That meant they were useless in the current king's views. However, Yuu had been managing Natsume's financial portfolio since they were fifteen and it has since grown to an obscene size. It still couldn't rival the clan's holdings, but he could certainly take care of his own if they suddenly had to cut ties and run.

Nonoko was just starting university but she was showing a strong aptitude for chemistry and when she graduated she would head up their new pharmaceutical division.

Luka and Mochu were both draman and highly underestimated for it. Natsume could list off a dozen more examples but Shuichi interrupted his thoughts.

"Speaking of my intuition, what was that flare of energy about? I'm guessing it had nothing to do with your usual complaint." The blue asked with an amused sparkle in his eyes.

"According to Koko, he's taking a bit of a liking to this little fish." Subaru said blandly, with only the slightest trace of humor. "Oh, and my sister says she has completed the new surveillance systems and has a list of the things she'll need for her lab." He finished to Natsume.

"Ugh, fine, just tell her to give it to Sakarano." Natsume said then turned to the blue dragon, "Just try to get the best deal you can. And don't let her bankrupt our little enterprise again. Something tells me we are going to need that money." The woman was a financial black hole. _A greedy, thieving, yet dastardly cunning black hole._ The red spent several moments thinking of unflattering and unrepeatable thoughts towards the younger Imai.

The three adults quietly sipped their tea until Youichi interrupted the silence, reminding them he was there. "Dr. Imai, when is the sea dragon going to be better?"

Natsume didn't give the doctor a chance to answer. "He has a point Imai, she still looks terrible. How long will whatever was on those claws be in effect?"

The doctor raised one smooth black brow at him and chose to answer them together. "If I knew what that hunter drugged her with I might have been able to counteract it better. As it is, I've sent several blood samples to Nonoko and even she has yet to be able to identify it. My guess is that it is something they created specifically for dragons because normally we metabolize most human drugs too quickly."

With that little Youichi looked really upset so Natsume placed a supporting hand on his shoulder. "She'll be okay. It just may take a bit longer."

Sakurano, who knew that his mate got his charming people skills at the same place as his sister, gave a hard look at the black dragon for being so insensitive when talking to a child. Leaning forward, he picked up where Natsume left off. "That's right Youichi, when she wakes up we will be able to help her better than we can now."

Imai made a frustrated sound "If only I knew more about sea dragons I might be able to do something. I'm certain the king knows something about them but…"

"I'm not handing her over to him unless I'm certain there is no other choice." Natsume declared. He would never let her die, but she would have to be damn close to death before he would let her anywhere near that man. Natsume knew without a shred of doubt that once he let her go to him, he would never see her again.

They would find a way to help her. They had to.

* * *

After returning Youichi to his room, Natsume came back to the clinic and stayed there through dinner. Shuichi brought him something to eat, and he knew that he ate it, but he couldn't recall what it was. All of his attention was on the sea dragon.

The young red dragon sat there in the dimming light of the evening studying everything about her. A search of her clothes revealed very little about who she was. She had no bag or ID on her but that could have been lost in the fight.

The magic that allowed dragons' clothes to change with them did not extend to things they carried. Any bag she had would have had to been tied to her hands or feet and considering her state, especially her legs, those bags are most likely at the bottom of the sea by now.

Her pockets held a bit of new information. The loose change in them was American currency, suggesting that was where she had come from. Or at least that was where she was before she came to Japan. The English labels on her clothes seemed to agree.

Who knew that sea dragons swam such distances? Then again, with the speed that she swam, crossing an ocean would probably only take a day or so.

The part he studied most of course was her face. With all of the bruises and scrapes on her face, it was still impossible to determine what she looked like. The only unmarred part was the lower left side, along her jaw. He'd spent most of the night staring at that small section of jaw.

It was smooth and soft to the touch, still young and wrinkle free. At best, she would be in her late teens, maybe early twenties as a human. For a dragon, that could put her up to her early sixties, but the youthful, casual look of her clothes suggested younger than that.

The jaw swept up to one of a very cute pair of ears. The kind meant for a man to nip at during love play. These particular ears were adorned with small, blood red gemstones that matched his eye-color perfectly. Garnets, Hotaru called them. Birthstone of someone born in January.

The other end of that smooth jaw ended in a pair of full lips. Okay, this time he was guessing they were full because at the moment all but the far left side was split and swollen. But he would be willing to bet they were full and tasted fantastic.

With a frustrated growl, Natsume launched out of the chair he'd been sitting in to pace the room, trying to control his arousal for the umpteenth time that night. He really had to get a grip of his wandering mind. The constant shift between being turned on and calming himself down was getting bloody uncomfortable on his groin. Any more mind wandering, and he would be in serious pain.

When he was feeling a bit more in control, he scowled at her, also for the umpteenth time that night. He wanted yell at her and blame her for what was happening to him. To demand that she wake up so they can have a days-long sex marathon. The kind of sex that was both mindless and extremely gratifying and would let him exorcise the demon possessing him.

Dammit, he was sounding like a crazy person again! This wasn't her fault! All she was doing was lying there looking delicious in her battered state. The problem was him, and he hated knowing that he had so little control.

At sunset, the monotony of sit, get worked up, pace around like a lunatic, then sit again, had a break. For a few minutes during that brief magical time when day gives way to night, he felt a small surge of energy within her.

Excited, he yelled for Subaru to hurry. The doctor appeared just as the power was beginning to fade and the doctor instantly sent his energy into her trying to get what healing he could in.

Without knowing why he did it, Natsume also sent his energy into her as well, his spirit instinctively trying to mesh with hers. His energy caught on to something, but just as quickly, it started to fade.

"Hold her there Natsume! Before she slips away again!" the black dragon ordered. Normally, it rankled the red dragon in him to be ordered around by a weaker dragon, but at the moment he was inclined to obey.

Natsume fused more of his energy into her trying desperately to hold the bit of her he had. Even as he tried, he could feel her retreating. "_Stay with me dammit!"_ he yelled at the top of his mind, but she still fell through his grip causing him to swear colorfully.

"At least I was able to heal up those gashes a bit." The young doctor said panting heavily. "I still can't figure out why it is so difficult to heal her. Whatever they gave her has quite the resistance to magic. Now let's at least take a look to see how her legs are doing. Some of the cuts were deep enough to warrant stitches." He suggested and the pair moved together to start removing the bandages on her legs.

Almost as one, they both gasped causing Sakurano who was standing in the door to ask what was wrong.

"Her skin has gone cold." Natsume stated "Is that normal?"

"No, there are occasionally cases of an infection causing the body temperature to drop instead of a fever, but she is showing no signs of infection." the doctor re-examined every cut and abrasion on his patient. "it's almost like she has hypothermia but she appears to be otherwise alright… perhaps it is something about her physiology… this is getting terribly frustrating… when your friend wakes up, I'm going to have to get as much information as I can about sea dragons from her."

Natsume who had been watching him the whole time had instinctively started to radiate heat from his body. Air dragons were very sensitive to cold and can die if they stayed too long in cold climates. Sea dragons might have something about them that makes them colder to survive deep waters, but he wasn't taking the chance. The other two dragons felt the room's temperature change and looked at him surprised.

While Natsume ignored them Aoi and Luka showed up. "Hello Natsume. We came to see how your new girlfriend was doing." She teased with a big grin which faltered when she felt the heat in the room. "What happened?" she asked, taking in the partially healed cuts on her legs and the still battered face.

"She's cold."

Luka's brows rose "She said she was cold?"

Giving the draman and irritated look he clarified. "No I mean she is really cold." He said, taking his sister's hand and brushing it against the mystery woman's arm causing her to gasp. He didn't repeat the motion with Luka because for some reason he still didn't like any man including Luka and Imai touching her. The doctor was a necessary evil but Luka was… well… in love with Aoi but Natsume still hated him touching her.

"She's cold!" Aoi said shocked causing her brother to roll his eyes at her ability to state the obvious. "Why is she so cold?"

"We don't know, but it might be because of her sea dragon nature."

"She still looks pretty bad. Are you sure she's okay?" Luka asked cautiously.

Imai who had been checking her vitals answered "Other than her temperature and her inability to wake up, she appears to be fine. In excellent health even."

"What about water?" Sakurano asked, causing them all to look at him puzzled. "She's a sea dragon. It would stand to reason she might do better in the water."

"In her current condition I'm not confident on taking her back to the ocean yet. However, if she hasn't shown improvement by morning we could try to immerse her in sterilized tub full of saline water."

The others agreed and began filing out with the exception of Natsume. His sister looked back him at expectantly.

"I'm going to stay for a bit longer. I'll be in later." He said quietly, trying to pretend he didn't notice and wasn't embarrassed by the knowing grins on the others.

Tbc

* * *

Author's Notes: Sorry if I confused anyone by reposting this chapter. I had misspelled Sakurano and it was really bothering me, so I had to fix it.

Blech. I hate working night shifts. I'm completely out of touch with everyone. When I'm awake, everyone else is sleeping. When I'm stumbling off to bed everyone is waking up and starting their day. Anyway, the chapter is done and I know not a heck of a lot happened in it, other than a bit more of background information, but the next one should interest you more. Mikan will actually be awake for that one. Poor Natsume, I'm going to push his frustrations to their limits.

Thank you so much to those of you who sent reviews! For **Nobara** who asked if we will see Tsubasa, Misaki, Nobara and Narumi, the answer is yes we will, but they aren't all dragons. And yes, you are correct about his grandfather.

For **Rashel**, I love dragons, and I really liked the idea of them being the main characters rather than the villain or the sidekick of the main character. It is quite fun writing about them.

To **Wyntta, **I guess I can see where the idea would sound weird, but I'm glad you decided to try it out.

And lastly to **Chrisca123456789** (wow what a name that is to type), yes his grandfather has his reasons for being how he is, but they aren't exactly what you or I would call justified reasons. I'll discuss it more in the story, but I'll give you a bit of foreshadowing: This reality is much like our modern day reality. The only difference is that a lot of the so called folk tales are true and the creatures in them hide amongst humans. Up until the past century or so seeing one would mean different things depending on the country you were in. Some were hunted down by brave knights, others were feared and given sacrifices, and in others they were worshipped as gods. In modern times though, the few humans that know of their existence no longer fear or revere them.


	6. Chapter 6

Bad language warning ahead

A Dragon's Heart – Chapter 6

Natsume had every intention of returning to his own comfortable bed that night. He certainly did not intend to fall asleep in a hard chair while watching a comatose sea dragon, but that was exactly what he did.

He wasn't sure what time it was when he fell asleep. The last thing he remembered was thinking she smelled nice. Buried under the smells of blood, antiseptic and residual seawater was the sweet scent of cherry blossoms mixed with something tangy and citrusy. Her scent. One that was unique to her and her alone.

The next thing he knew, he was jerking awake with a monster of a kink in his neck from sleeping in a weird position. Disoriented, it took him a few moments of bleary eyed blinking about the treatment room to remember where he was and what he was doing.

_Owww… shit, neck is killing me… huh? The clinic? Was I hurt? No wait… right… sea dragon…woman… wait… WHERE THE FUCK IS SHE?_ He wondered as his scattered thoughts finally came together.

Leaping from his chair fast enough to cause it to fall back and clatter on the floor, he ran to the front waiting room only to find the front door ajar and a nighttime breeze whistling through it. That must have been what woke him up.

_Stupid woman! Where the hell does she think she could go in her condition?_

Clearly not that far since he was able to spot her about a dozen paces away shuffling awkwardly towards the back of the compound.

Natsume could feel that dawn was still over an hour away and he growled at the idiot that was probably going to kill herself by stumbling about in the dark while injured.

Stalking up to her "Oi, just what do you think you're doing?" he yelled, and then realized she might not speak Japanese. **"No! Stop! Wait!"** he yelled in English trying desperately to get his still sleepy mind to piece together a full sentence in a foreign language.

He couldn't see her face in the dim light. She was bent over and her matted hair fell all around her face hiding her expression. But he could see how badly she was shaking and could hear her labored breathing along with a frequent hiss of pain. **"You are hurt. You must come back now."** He ordered in English and grabbed her arm to guide her back.

The woman hissed painfully again and almost collapsed against him. **"Waterrr…"** she slurred then whispered "mmm… mizu… mizu… water… need… watrrr." She faltered again and for a brief moment she tilted her head back and what little Natsume could see of her eyes were trying to roll back into her head.

_She must be delirious. But at least she knows some Japanese._ "All right, I'll get you some water, just come with me." He said in the same tone he used for Youichi. He started to guide her back to the clinic, but she pushed away from him.

"Water… umm… ocean… gtt… oooshannn." She demanded weakly waiving her arm unerringly in the direction of the cliff that overlooked the water. As soon as she finished talking her energy completely ran out and she would have fallen if Natsume hadn't been there to catch her.

Without another word Natsume picked her up with and arm around her back and one under her knees and took off towards the cliff at top speed.

_This is so stupid! What am I doing? If I let her in that water she'll probably end up with all kinds of nasty infections. Imai will probably lecture me every day for the rest of my life for abducting his patient. His freaky sister will probably blackmail me bankrupt under god knows what excuse. Luka and Aoi will think I've lost my mind… just what the hell am I doing?_

Regardless of the nonstop ranting in his head, he never once changed direction. His steps remained fast and true towards the cliff he had been standing on the previous morning. As he passed the last of the buildings on the estate and the gate leading towards the cliff he hoped that as her element, the water could somehow help her.

The young red stopped a few meters from the cliff face and gently put her back on her feet. "I'm going to change, and then I can glide you down to the water." He explained while taking a few steps back for his transformation.

Once he was away from her, the woman stumbled faster than he thought she could move and sent herself over the cliff's edge.

"NO!" he screamed transforming and launching himself after her. His movements were just a hairsbreadth too slow though. He watched helplessly as she tumbled limply and crashed hard into the water.

Desperately, he pulled himself higher and scanned the surrounding water. Now that he knew what he was looking for, his dragon eyes would be able to spot her underwater even in the dark.

There! Slightly further out from where she fell, Natsume saw and felt the woman's energy surge and change her into her sea dragon form. Damn, if the sight of her sleek dragon body didn't send his blood stirring.

A disruption of the air around him and the distinct flap of a wing had him spinning in the air ready to attack only to find Sakurano and Dr. Imai in their dragon forms behind him. Only an Imai could pull off making a dragon face look disapproving. Rolling his eyes he returned to watching the sea dragon relieved that the water appeared to be helping the sea dragon. Imai made a snorting sound but Natsume continued to ignore him. He knew that taking her out here was a big gamble on his part and he just didn't feel like arguing with the doctor about it.

The sea dragon's movements started out sluggish. She flopped around and jerked awkwardly for a good fifteen minutes but then her movements started to smooth out and look more fluid. After a good half hour she was bending and coiling back on herself in intricate yet carefree patterns. The playful nature of her movements and her maneuverability in the water was almost something to make a flying air dragon envious. He watched her entranced, as she spun, swam, made loops and figure eights with her body playing with the waves around her.

Something about the way she moved, so unconsciously sensual, sent his heart hammering in his large chest and made his tail curl and twitch. Her dragon form really was a sight to behold. He didn't know when the pair of dragons behind him got bored with the view and returned to the cliff. Didn't know, and didn't care. His eyes were solely focused on the water below him. Natsume continued to admire her play until he felt dawn approaching, as much as he wanted to stay close, he decided it might be better to watch from the cliff. The whole shoreline down to the beach was part of their estate so most times they were usually left alone, but like the previous morning, that didn't always stop humans. No need to tempt fate and attract attention.

As things were, he could be in his human form and still watch the object of his obsession. Despite having the whole ocean as her playground, she didn't seem the least bit inclined to travel too far from the cliff. He would like to think it was his flying above her that kept her there but he quickly learned that wasn't the case. At one point during her play her snout had come out of the water and she looked straight at him causing his heart to beat even faster as he hovered in the air waiting. He endured her gaze as she tilted her head and gave him a curious look. She continued to look at him for a good solid minute before flipping her head back into the water. The move caused her neck and the rest of her sinuous body to break the surface then submerge in one long, continuous arc until her tail finally became exposed and disappeared with a flick.

What was she thinking when she looked at him? Could she tell he was the same red dragon from yesterday? How could she just dismiss him as if he were no more than a passing curiosity? More than one woman has told him that he looks impressive in his dragon form. A few even told him it was beautiful.

He tried not to think about the disappointing sting to his pride knowing that he clearly didn't have the same effect on her as she did to him.

Returning to the cliff, he was surprised to find Imai and Sakurano had left and several others from his group had taken their place. He was so distracted watching the sea dragon that he didn't even notice their approach. A bit scary when he realized they could just as easily have been from his grandfather's people.

Natsume landed only minutes before the sun broke through and night fell to day. For dragons, this was always a time of power. With the exception of Natsume, it was the time when their fire returned and the air throbbed with magical energy. For the people on the cliff who were sensitive to it, the power built, crested, and then drifted away leaving the warmth of an early summer day.

"Wow she's so pretty!" Aoi exclaimed breaking the silence. "I've never seen that color on a dragon before! It makes her look like she's covered in gold and jewels!" She sighed wistfully. "Oh, I'd give anything to look like that in my dragon form."

"Your scales look pretty in the sunlight too." Luka mumbled behind her, blushing madly. Natsume just shook his head at him while Kokoro Yome and Kitsuneme stood behind him making feeble attempts to hide their snickering.

Luka scowled at them "I'm serious!" he announced defending his statement as something more than drabble from a love struck idiot. "The red tint in her bronze makes her look like shiny copper in the sun."

Aoi apparently liked the comparison, because she gave him a small peck on the corner of his mouth. "Thanks Luka, that was sweet."

The young draman stood there shocked before melting into a blissful haze that no amount of teasing from the idiots could break him out of.

So they chose to tease Natsume.

"Aoi has a point though, she really is something."

"Yeah. I never would have guessed sea dragons would look so sleek and sexy."

"Not bad Natsume. Not bad at all."

"Her human body was pretty sweet too. Hey Natsume, if you're not interested, you mind if I take a shot?" Koko asked casually, while getting prepared to dodge. Natsume didn't bother to answer or even look at him. Instead, he summoned a fireball as big as his torso and shot it at the idiot. It was quite gratifying when he heard a yelp from that direction.

"Hey! That one almost got me!" Koko protested while Aoi made disapproving noises about boys, barbarians and idiots.

A cold voice off to the side of them interrupted their complaints. "Either keep it down or find somewhere else to watch. You're disrupting my work." Hotaru declared snapping photo after photo of the sea dragon with what Natsume guessed was a camera. Although it looked like no camera he had ever seen. After about the fiftieth click, Natsume's curiosity got the better of him and he wandered over just to see what kind of pictures she was taking.

_Wow_ he thought, while his mouth went dry.

He wasn't sure how the creepy inventor managed to modify her camera, but the picture looked like it was taken from a few feet away rather than a several dozen meters. The way the sun and water sparkled on her really did make her look like she was made out of gold and jewels.

"Fifteen thousand yen per shot."

"Fifteen thousand?" he choked. "Bloody robbery."

The younger Imai gave him a bland look that told him she knew he would pay it even if she asked for fifty thousand.

"You shouldn't be taking photos of anyone in their dragon form anyway. If any humans got a hold of them…"

"They would probably try and sell it to another less than credible tabloid which may or may not print another story about 'mysterious creature' sightings. Relax Hyuuga, as far as humans are concerned, we are an urban myth. Besides, I have yet to see the hacker that can break through my security."

The red and the black dragon had a small war of wills until Aoi broke it up.

"Oh no! Is she leaving us?"

Natsume's head spun so quickly that it wrenched the kink in his neck from earlier. "What?" he yelled out, which ended in a hiss of pain.

Sure enough, the sea dragon had swum out to deeper waters and was now barely visible from his vantage point.

"I've got her." Hotaru said flatly.

"What? How?" he asked and her screen once again showed and close up view of her submerged just below the surface. Then the inventor touched a button on her camera and the view from the camera was somehow below the surface of the water.

"What the hell is this?"

"This is the new security system you ordered." She said holding out the palm of her hand. An insect about the size of his fingernail landed in her hand. "I had already begun to make them so we could keep an eye on your grandfather, but this way we can watch the whole estate.

"They can be positioned as we need them, the wings act as solar panels to recharge them during the day and they can run continuously for several months. Their life can be extended indefinitely if we set them to motion activation, and are completely fireproof and waterproof." She droned like the world's most boring infomercial before nodding her head out to sea. "She's moving."

Natsume watched a bit anxiously as the sea dragon slowly made her way up the coast swirling and playing the whole way. When his vantage point from the cliff was no longer useful, he boldly dove off and transformed after being assured from Hotaru there were no humans close.

_Come back. _

_Come back… to me._ He thought trying to somehow get her to return by sheer force of will. Again he wondered what the hell was wrong with him and how could she hold such power over him.

His enormous red body swooped low over where she was swimming. If she was startled by the sight of his shadow hovering over her, she didn't show it. As he passed her he dragged his claws and tail through the water creating an impressive cascading wake in the water.

It was an invitation. At least, he hoped she saw it as an invitation. It was an invite to play or talk or anything just as long as she didn't leave him yet.

Hoping that his message was received, he flew towards the same beach he pulled her out of yesterday and waited.

And waited, and waited, and waited.

His sister and the others brought out some food and some blankets to sit on. The others talked and laughed and looked to any who might see them like a group of teens on a planned trip to the beach. It was only when one looked at the brooding young man with the black hair that anything appeared to be wrong.

_Dammit! Why isn't she coming back? _He wondered. It was hours after dawn and he was still sitting there, brooding at the sea. They could still barely see her so he knew she was there. She just wouldn't come to shore. He wondered for the thousandth time if she misunderstood his invitation. Or maybe he should swim out into the water and meet her half way. Maybe he should fly out.

No. He had lost enough of his pride chasing after her. A man needed some sort of acknowledgement in return. So he waited, and brooded.

Wait, was that last splash closer? He watched carefully as the next flash of scales against sunlight did indeed appear to be closer. His heart rate picked up a bit as he watched each subsequent sign of her appear closer and closer to him.

"Hyuuga, she's coming in" Hotaru announced causing all play on the beach to stop. If any of them thought that her approach might be another false alarm their doubts were quickly quashed when they felt the telltale power surge of a transformation.

For Natsume it felt like his stomach had been invaded by a flock of psychotic butterflies. With every ounce of will he managed to keep his outward expression bland but nothing could stop the nervous jittering inside of him.

When a human head broke the surface of the water and started swimming to shore, his feet took off on their own and carried him along into the shallows. Thankfully the others chose to stay back, because they didn't hear the hitch in his breathing when the water was shallow enough for her to stand and her head and shoulders came out of the water.

The sun must have thought he hadn't quite suffered enough that morning because it chose that inopportune moment to shine in his eyes and render him blind. Squinting, he saw her as a shadowy image that emerged a few more steps before she stopped and looked down at her open hands. Her head whipped back and forth scanning the surrounding water as if looking for something. After a few looks around, she held up her hand with her index finger pointing skyward; the classic symbol for 'give me just one minute'.

With only the smallest splash she took off at a speed that Natsume couldn't follow leaving him stunned. Should he wait? Should he go back to shore? What the hell just happened?

From behind him he heard the soft tread of his sister against the water's edge. "Natsume, I-" whatever she was going to say was cut off by Hotaru.

"She's coming back."

Natsume had barely enough time to pick out the object that was rocketing through the water at impossible speed before she was suddenly there. She was standing right where she was before like her brief disappearance was just an illusion. Except now he could see her clearly.

_Ho-oo-ly-yy Sh-ii-ii-it. _His mind reeled. Definitely more than what he expected.

* * *

Yay! Mikan is finally in the story! Well, that is she was always in the story, but now she's an active participant. Everyone who is not Natsume can heave a sigh of relief. I'm still not done torturing him.


	7. Chapter 7

Thank you for all of the reviews! Some of you have some very perceptive thoughts! I feel like I will have to work extra hard now just to keep up with you.

A Dragon's Heart – Chapter 7

She was a younger woman than he imagined. Barely past the girl stage really. Her body radiated confidence and youthful vitality but lacked the awkwardness that plagued school age teens. He'd eat one of Hotaru's bug cameras if her age was any more than two years away from his.

Her face was certainly more than he had hoped for. She wasn't exactly traffic stopping gorgeous but she was definitely well above average. It was a natural beauty too; one without the aid of smelly cosmetics and perfumes that were usually offensive to his heightened sense of smell. A solid eight and a half out of ten if he could judge objectively. Of course, there was nothing objective about the way he was seeing her and responding to her. He had long since lost control over his erratic breathing and crazy heartbeat already, but now his palms were sweating and his face couldn't seem to decide if it wanted his jaw to go slack and hang open, or break into a silly grin. Neither expression was appropriate for a person of his supposedly dignified position. As she started to move closer to them, his eyes tried to take in everything at once, but got caught on her eyes.

That was the most obvious and most predominant feature before anything else could even be noticed. Her eyes were incredible. Up until now he had never really had a chance to see them, and only now did he realize what a travesty that was. They were large, luminous, and extremely expressive. He'd never seen such eyes. The rest of her face was pretty and balanced out nicely with fine cheekbones, a pert nose, and a cute pouty mouth, but it was those eyes a man could get lost in.

Wading the last few meters towards him, Natsume realized belatedly that she held a battered backpack in one hand. "Sorry for leaving like that. I forgot my bag." She said halting Japanese while giving a sheepish grin.

Much to his horror, Natsume found he couldn't move or speak. Instead he stood there like a statue staring at her until her grin started to falter. _Say something stupid! Hello! Pleasure to meet you! Anything!_ He yelled at himself, but his facial muscles refused to listen to him. He had no idea what expression finally ended up on his face, but judging from the nervous looks she was giving him, it was not friendly. _Great. Nice first impression Natsume. Scare the hell out of her._ It was the one time he really didn't want to be scary or intimidating.

Aoi came up beside him "Hello my name is Hyuuga Aoi and this is my brother Natsume. I must say it is very surprising to see a sea dragon here. There hasn't been a sea dragon spotted in these waters for decades."

The strange woman gave an unusual expression of understanding. "Ah, well that explains why the water was acting so strangely."

Aoi tilted her head puzzled "Acting strangely? How so?"

"As soon as I touched the water around here it started acting so happy and jealous. It wants me to stay and play with it and pay attention to only it. It must miss its sea dragons terribly to be so possessive."

Natsume couldn't blame the water for its feelings since he was pretty much in the same predicament. While his sister was speaking, the sea dragon's focus had redirected to her and Natsume found the loss of attention irritating. He wasn't particularly vain and usually didn't care what others thought about him, but right now more than anything he wanted the sea dragon to look at him and only him.

"I never knew water could have such feelings. It sounds a bit like how we control fire."Aoi speculated while Natsume involuntarily looked down to where the water was swirling around her thighs and hips.

It might have just been his imagination, but the waves seemed to curl around her like fingers trying to pull her back into its depths. And now that he was seeing that, it also seemed like the water was trying to push he and his sister back on to shore away from the sea dragon. The waves that were hitting his knees were unusually strong for being so shallow.

The sea dragon made an irritated sound and swirled her free hand along the surface. The water swirled along with her hand and fingers of water appeared trying to curl around her wrist and pull her back. Looking down she started to make quiet soothing sounds almost as if she was reassuring the water. Natsume became momentarily entranced again when all of a sudden the waves that were pushing and pulling the three of them dissipated to nothing.

"We should probably get out before it changes its mind." She warned.

"What did you do?" Aoi asked.

"I promised I would come to play later." She said and the three sloshed out of the water before the lonely sea tried to pull her back in. If it were him, Natsume doubted he would have let her go with such a vague promise. But then again, he had yet to even get her to look at him. He needed to do something and he needed to do it quick. He was blowing his first impression on her. _Talk stupid! Say something!_ He yelled at himself. He had to do something get the sea dragon who still hadn't given her name to stop paying attention to his sister and start talking to him.

"So what do we call you? Or should we stick with polka dot panty girl?" a gruff voice asked. It took him a horrifying second to realize it was his own.

Oh.

God.

Tell him he did not just say that.

The sea dragon froze in her tracks to turn and glare at him. A mixture of rage, embarrassment, and insult poured through her energy and hit Natsume like a whip crack.

The two of them stood there staring at each other for the space of a few heartbeats before she looked down at herself. When she saw what she was wearing, she let out a startled shriek. "What happened to my clothes?" she asked. Upset to find she was only wearing a hospital gown instead of the clothes she remembered. And since the thin cloth of the gown was soaking wet, it was completely transparent, leaving her virtually standing there in her underwear.

With as much dignity as she could muster, she trudged the rest of the way up the beach and yanked the blanket he had been sitting on from the ground and wrapped it around her like cocoon.

In the meantime Hotaru pulled out a weird looking gun and shot it at his head causing him to grunt in pain and glare at her. The gun was probably one of her freaky creations. It had a weird 'BAKA' sound at the discharge and left him feeling like he had been slapped hard. On his other side, Aoi swiftly whacked him in the arm "Natsume! How dare you say such a thing to our guest!" she hissed. Wow. Who knew girls could be so violent?

Although he probably deserved it. Even he had no idea what the hell had possessed him to say such a thing. Maybe all those years of being a cold unfeeling bastard had damaged his social skills. He needed to apologize, but apologies did not come naturally to him. Not only that, he was still so nervous that he didn't trust what might come out of his mouth next. Instead, his sister rushed up to the sea dragon and started gushing apologies for him. Aoi started making bold statements about how Natsume could be a rude jerk at times, but he was still a nice person. Nice person? Him? Since when? Cold, callous, cynical, bitter, insulting and hostile were all perfectly good adjectives to describe him. But nice? He had no experience with nice.

"It's all right." She muttered while she started to dig through her torn backpack. "I'm not ten years old anymore. I know I won't die from embarrassment if you all see me in my underwear. It is not like it is much different than a bikini. I just didn't like the way creepy, pervert-guy over there noticed it." She paused for a moment in her rummaging and gave him a heavy look. "You're the red from before aren't you?" she asked, and her tone made it sound like she regretted coming to his aid. He tried not to be bothered by it, but he couldn't. Her clear disappointment in him pissed him off.

Keeping his expression cool, he nodded. "I can't decide if it was brave or stupid of you to barge into a fight like you did yesterday." He said and cursed his mouth again. _Idiot! You're supposed to say thank you for helping me, or something along those lines. Not make it sound more like an insult than a compliment_. He yelled at himself. Somewhere in the forever plains, he was sure the gods of air and fire must be keeling over in fits of laughter at his total ineptitude at talking like a normal, nice person.

"Yesterday? I've been out for a whole day?" she asked the group in general, clearly startled by the news.

"Yes. You were injured so my brother took you back to our place to take care of you." Aoi said.

The woman made eye contact with him. "Thank you for that." She said absently but for just a brief moment Natsume was sure he sensed something in those expressive eyes of hers.

"Thank you for coming to help my brother." Aoi responded sweetly.

The sea dragon shrugged at her and gave her a little self-depreciating smile. "It's okay. Your brother is probably right that it was more stupid foolishness rather than boldness or bravery that made me jump in. My family has a long and ugly history with dragon hunters and scientists. If one of my cousins or uncles had come across the same thing I did, they wouldn't have hesitated like I did."

She calls smashing into the hull of a very large boat hesitating? "I wouldn't call the way you rammed that boat hesitating." Natsume said quietly.

The woman waived off his comment. "In the water nothing like that could compete with us. Even ramming it the way I did, I could have easily crushed it, but my heart wasn't in to it. I'm not much of a killer and I think I was hoping they would just leave." She gave a little sound like she was thoroughly disgusted with her weakness, but Natsume didn't think it was weak at all. He was a killer enough for both of them, and probably ten or twenty others. It didn't bother him one whit that she didn't want to kill because at least her soul wasn't as decayed as his was.

"Speaking of my family, I should call my family to let them know where I am." She said while continuing to rummage through her bag. The air dragons watched as she sifted through a multitude of zipper locking bags. _Clever_ Natsume thought admirably as he spied a larger zippered bag that contained a complete outfit of t-shirt, shorts and undergarments, all completely dry.

The sea dragon made a frustrated sound "Where on earth is my cell – oh." She cut off abruptly and pulled out a clear plastic zipper locking bag that was pouring sea water from a large tear along the side. Inside swam the damaged remains of a smashed cellular phone. "And another one bites the dust." She said with a sigh.

"We could let you use the phone up at the estate if you need to. You could also get cleaned up there if you want." His sister suggested.

"Oh, no I couldn't. If you could just direct me to the closest hotel…"

"Nonsense!" Aoi talked right over her. "The least we can do is offer you a bit of hospitality for coming to save my brother!" she replied cheerfully. When the sea dragon still looked leery Aoi added, "I know we are still strangers, but we are all dragon-kind here and if we were planning to do something bad to you we would have already done it when you were unconscious."

The young woman seemed to ponder the logic for a bit and Natsume tried his best to appear harmless when she glanced his way. "Thank you. I probably shouldn't, but I really do need to call my family and I would love to wash up a bit. A hot shower would be heaven." She said gratefully while still wearing the blanket.

Inside, Natsume was crowing in triumph, but somehow he managed to have his expression under control. He had to make sure he didn't do anything that might scare her off. He had plans for this little sea dragon that didn't include her leaving any time soon. As she was repacking her bag she paused for no apparent reason to give him a curious look and he got the strangest feeling she knew that he was pleased that she would be staying.

* * *

I will do my best to have a chapter out next week, but the holidays is a busy time for me so I can only promise to try.


	8. Chapter 8

A Dragon's Heart – Chapter 8

The sea dragon finished stuffing her things back into her bag and tried to stand when Natsume caught sight of a tiny wince. She tried to hide it from them, but since he pretty much hadn't taken his eyes off her to do more than blink, he saw it easily. Actually, if he thought hard enough on it, it was almost as if he _felt_ her wince. Without bothering to explain himself, he quickly closed the distance between them and dropped to his knees in front of her.

"Natsume! What are you doing?" his sister squawked indignantly as he reached out and took hold of the strange woman's left leg.

As soon as their skin and energies made contact, that same sharp spike of lust hit him. At least this time he was slightly prepared for it, so he didn't react in any embarrassing way in front of the others. The best part was when he heard the sea dragon's ragged intake of breath. He looked up just in time to see those incredible eyes of hers cloud in a mixture of confusion, disorientation, and a hint of responding lust. Oh, it was so tempting not to take advantage of the moment and run his hands up and down the length of her leg just see what she would do.

"Sit." He ordered, and the dazed woman fell back onto her butt without question.

"What did you just do?" she whispered harshly to him while tightening the blanket around her. Oh yes, his touch definitely had an effect on her. He could feel tremors in her energy that seemed to radiate out from where his hands were. At that moment his face was fighting him to break out into a smug grin, but he managed to control it down to a quirk of his brow and a twitch of his lips. Once he had his expression under control, he spoke up.

"You were badly injured yesterday. We almost had to give you stitches." He explained while tearing his eyes away from hers "And you still have not told us your name." He reminded her, while moving to examine her legs. Damn, they were fantastic long legs and he could picture himself doing all kinds of wicked things to them. Most of the bruises were gone, leaving only a slight discoloration where the worst ones were. The gashes caused by the hunter's claws were now long shallow cuts. They still looked painful, but Imai should be able to heal them easily now.

The sea dragon tried to get her breathing under control, "I'm… um… M-M-Mikan Sakura." She stuttered then cleared her throat. "The Sea is ours to call. It will heal us when we need it." She explained.

"Can you walk?" he asked, secretly hoping he would be forced to carry her. The feeling of touching her combined with the knowledge that she was affected by his touch was torturous pleasure. To hell with it, he would carry her. Just as she began nodding that yes, she could walk on her own, he scooped her up and took off towards his area of the estate at top dragon speed. The sea dragon let out a startled yelp and tried to wriggle free of his strong grip.

"Stop squirming or I'll drop you." He growled. He was too focused on the footing ahead of him to see the dirty look his passenger gave him, but he knew it was there. He could feel it in her. As the scenery blurred past them he picked up a few other impressions from her. He could tell that her leg was hurting her more than she let on, but there were other things. There was fear of being dropped while moving at the speed they were, caution mixed with nervousness about going with total strangers, even if they were dragons. There was also a hefty dose of irritation and lust directed at him. He rather liked knowing that she was attracted to him, and he would deal with the irritation later. Besides, it wasn't like she was the only one irritated. Thanks to her, he had managed to make himself look like a total idiot and loose his cool more than once.

As they got closer to the estate he wondered how he could be so in tune with a virtual stranger. Their connection was not as clear as the one he had with Aoi and Luka but he definitely couldn't question that it was there. Her feelings somehow rippled across his awareness and gave him insight into her that he should not have.

"Okay, you can put me down now." She hissed at him as they approached the first houses on the estate. Instead of letting her go, he pulled her closer to his chest in an effort to conceal her face.

"It's probably better if no one sees you." he warned her quietly.

"What? Why?" she asked, suddenly holding still and again Natsume could feel the changes in her emotions. He could sense her becoming more cautious and alert about her surroundings. Her fear and nervousness hitched up a few notches.

"Most of our clan is very traditional and don't think highly of outsiders." He told her quietly. It was true that although dragons hid themselves among society, they were at the absolute top of the mystical creature food chain. There was nothing on the planet that was superior to them. That power bred millennia's worth of arrogance towards lesser creatures. Most pure blood dragons were bigoted snobs that didn't respect anything less than other pure blood dragons with higher standing than themselves.

"Ah." She replied and chose to stay relatively quiet after that although Natsume did catch sight of her hands moving out of the corner of his eye.

In almost no time they arrived at Dr. Imai's clinic where the doctor and his mate waiting for him. Before he had a chance to do more than carry her back to the treatment room, the others arrived. All of a sudden the treatment and waiting room were packed with people and Natsume had fight hard to resist the urge to do something violent. He didn't like crowds and he didn't like anyone coming close to the sea dragon.

"Well, you are certainly looking better." Sakurano said, then he bowed politely, "Hello, I'm Sakurano Shuichi and this is Dr. Imai Subaru. It is a pleasure to meet you."

"Mikan. Mikan Sakura. Um, why am I here? I thought you were going to bring me to a phone?"

"This is our doctor. I wanted him to look at your injuries." Natsume growled, causing her to give him a strange look. He realized after a moment that he was scaring her again. Damn it! Why couldn't he get his mouth to work properly when he was around her? With effort he managed to force his face into a bland expression as he grudgingly placed her on the treatment bed. Mikan looked at the swarm of faces around her and gave them a wobbly smile before awkwardly showing Imai her injured leg.

Natsume could sense her discomfort and was on the verge of yelling at everyone to get out when Luka shuffled closer to him. "Excuse me?" he called tentatively which caused the red and sea dragon to look at him. "Hello, I'm Natsume's brother Nogi Luka." The blond said introducing himself to Mikan with a small bow, he then turned to Natsume "Natsume, perhaps the rest of us could get a late lunch ready while you and Aoi show our guest to a phone and somewhere she can get cleaned up? If that is okay with our guest, of course." He finished with the subtle question towards the sea dragon.

Mikan was still looking a little dazed at all of the people around her and gave a small nod. In less than a minute, the place was cleared of people and Natsume found himself sighing in relief until he saw Imai take Mikan's leg. Logically, he knew that the doctor was inspecting her injuries, but to his eyes it just looked like a man was groping her leg and it really bothered him to watch. Instead, he tried to pretend that he could not see another man touching her by forcing himself to focus on her face. She however, was busy looking around the room with that stupid dazed look still on her face.

"This place seems familiar. Was I here before?"

"You don't remember?" Dr. Imai asked.

"I remember the boat, and the two dragons in the air, but after that it gets a little fuzzy. What happened?"

Aoi was quick to outline to her what happened "So then Natsume sent the bronze hunter crashing into the water, and it looks like it used its poisoned claws on you while he was sinking into the water." She finished.

If the other woman was going to comment, she didn't get a chance to because the doctor made an irritated grunting sound. "Is there something wrong?" Mikan asked.

Imai gave her leg an irritated look. "Tell me; are all sea dragons resistant to magical powers?"

"Err… not… really… why?" she asked, and Natsume didn't miss her cautious tone or the feelings of wariness from her.

"My healing ability does not appear to work on you."

"Oh! Really? Err… how about now?" she asked.

Dr. Imai gave her an irritated look as if his patient was being incredibly stupid but Natsume watched him use his healing ability on her anyway. Sure enough, the long shallow cuts disappeared along with any remaining bruising leaving a very long smooth leg.

Mikan tried to pull her leg back, but the young doctor held on to it. "What did you do?" he asked, still sounding annoyed.

Natsume felt the sea dragon's alarm and wariness hitch up another notch and he wondered what it was she was hiding. "Umm… sometimes my own magic can clash with others so they do not work right."

"So it is not a sea dragon ability?"

"No. It can't even be called an ability really. You know, in the future, if you want to help heal a sea dragon, all you have to do is keep them in the water. The water will help heal us." She told them sweetly causing Sakurano to give everyone a smug look. After all he had suggested the very same thing.

"So you just wanted us to leave you alone in the state you were in where humans and dragon hunters could find you?" Natsume interrupted, he was well aware that she was deliberately changing the topic and wondered what she was hiding. He would let her keep her secrets for now but he would get them sooner or later.

"No. I appreciate you hiding me. I must have been pretty out of it, and if any hunters showed up after the first one, I would have been an easy catch. What I meant to say is that if I had of been kept out of the water for much longer, I would have gotten a lot worse."

"Worse? How so?" Dr. Imai asked.

"We need to be immersed in water at least once every twenty-four hours or we die."

"_What?_" Aoi half screamed in the room, which echoed with the thoughts that were ricocheting around in Natsume's head.

_I almost killed her. I almost picked her up and dragged her back to the clinic. Why did I take her to the water? How long had she been out? I didn't want to take her to the water. God, if I hadn't taken her to the water. I almost killed her._

His sister gave him another whack on the arm. "Natsume! How could you take her out of the water?" she yelled.

"What? Like I knew she could die?" instead of his sister answering, Mikan started to laugh, causing the siblings to look at her.

All of Natsume's negative thoughts came to a screeching halt. Damn, she was beautiful when she laughed. It was amazing how her face just lit up when she smiled. He used to think that was just a figure of speech, but for her it was true. It made him forget what he was arguing about.

Imai cleared his throat, breaking the scene. "I was hoping to ask you a few other questions about sea dragons if you have the time. I don't like treating patients when I cannot tell if their symptoms are perfectly normal for their species."

She gave the young doctor a startled look. "Oh! Well I will try my best to answer them, but most sea dragons are quite secretive, so there may be things I wouldn't be allowed to discuss."

"I see. The first thing I want to ask is about your body temperature at night. Is it normal for it to drop so drastically?"

"Yes, it is an adaptive thing I think. We can survive even in arctic waters." She explained.

Natsume was listening avidly to learn all he could about his new obsession but Shuichi chose that point to try and push him out of the room. The red snarled low and dangerously at him and was about to teach the blue to know his place when his sister joined in and they ganged up on him.

"She is obviously fine Natsume." His sister quietly reassured.

"Once Subaru is done, she can clean up here and use the phone." Shuichi chimed in calmly.

"You should use the time to go clean up yourself and get changed. You look terrible. No wonder she is scared of you."

After a bit more reassuring that they wouldn't let their guest go anywhere without telling him first and strong assurances that they would call him instantly if their grandfather or Persona showed up, he reluctantly left for what was the quickest wash and change of his life. He returned before she was even out of the shower.

"You really like her don't you big brother?" Aoi asked him while he paced like a caged animal around the waiting room. Natsume shot her a surprised look, but chose not to answer. He didn't even care that his silence was probably taken as an assent.

The truth was even Natsume didn't understand what he felt for her. He honestly didn't even know her. How could a person truthfully say they liked someone when they didn't even know them? Oh but he desired her though. He wanted her with every cell in his body. Just being near her plunged him into a madness that made him forget his carefully cultivated control. Even now his mind couldn't help reminding him that she was down the hall, naked, under the shower head… _no… wait… the water has stopped… that would mean she was probably toweling her wet, naked body off._ His mind helpfully pointed out to him making him pace faster. He silently yelled at himself for the next twenty minutes or so until she reappeared and shot his regained self control to hell.

She was wearing a short sundress, with sandals and her hair was hanging loosely except for the bits around her face that were pulled back into a clip. Ugh, this would have been easier on him if she was a bit uglier. If she were ugly, he might have been able to not think about sliding his hands up under her sundress or just ripping it clean off her. He watched her with his heart thudding heavily in his chest while Shuichi directed her towards the phone and she called someone who was apparently in California. From where Natsume was standing he heard the tinny sound of the recorded message on the answering machine and he noticed that the sea dragon, Mikan, looked a little bit relieved that she was talking to a machine instead of a person.

"**Hi, it's Mikan,"** she began to speak in English, **"I just wanted to let you know I'm alright. Unfortunately, I wrecked another cell phone so I…"** Mikan was cut off from what she was going to say by a female voice screaming through the other end.

"**Mikan! Just where the hell are you! Tsubasa is pissed!"** the voice screamed loud enough for Mikan wince and have to pull the receiver away from her ear. With her arm fully extended away from her head it was perfectly audible for everyone else in the room.

"**Permy? What are you doing there? You're supposed to be in Scotland with Gran and Gramps!"** Mikan exclaimed, with obvious surprise. In fact, she looked like she was going to be sick.

"**Permy indeed! When I get my hands on you I'll perm your idiot scaly hide! Now where the hell are you?" **The strange woman's voice yelled causing Mikan to show a bit of temper.

"**I'm in Japan."** She bit out harshly.

"**In Japan? What do you think…"** Whatever the Permy woman on the other end had to say about that was lost to Natsume and the others because she had toned down her screaming enough that they could not hear the other side of the conversation. Natsume found the bit of conversation he did hear rather interesting though. It appeared that wherever Mikan was supposed to be, Japan wasn't it.

"**I can take care of myself! Now I just called to leave Tsubasa a message of where I am and I will try and get a replacement cell phone as soon as possible."** She said abruptly, and then hung up. She gave the others an awkward grin. "My cousin Sumire." She explained cautiously. "I know she means well, but she has a bad habit of treating me like a baby. Sorry you had to hear that."

Aoi smiled at her "That's all right, now why don't we go have some lunch?" Aoi said gesturing towards the door. Mikan was barely able to nod in agreement before Aoi had her herded out the door leaving Natsume standing there looking stupid again.

* * *

AN: Wow I didn't think I was going to be able to get this out this soon.

So, a few points: It was pointed out to me that I was not very clear on stating Mikan's color. I guess when I said that she looked like gold and jewels; it made it sound like she was mostly gold. Sorry no. She is primarily bright blue-green with ribbons of gold mixed in. I hope that clears that up.

Anyway some of you may be a bit puzzled by the relationships. Rest assured there is a method to my madness. It may seem like random chaos, but it should all make sense in the end. Now for those of you who were paying real close attention, you didn't read a typo. Luka is indeed Natsume's brother. So how can he have a relationship with Aoi? I think there should be more than enough clues. And no, it is not incest or adoption.

So for those of you who celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice, or whatever else I have forgotten, Happy Holidays everyone!


	9. Chapter 9

Thank you again to all of you who sent reviews! You guys are great!

A Dragon's Heart – Chapter 9

Much to Natsume's surprise their late lunch turned out to be more like an early dinner and a far more elaborate affair than he expected. He had figured his group would just arrange for something simple, but nice. Instead, they brought out a multi-course feast. They had set up the large dining area with flowers and music and had opened the screens to the outside garden and koi pond. The view wasn't as pretty as when the sakura trees were in full bloom, but it was a nice view none the less. It did annoy him a bit to see they had brought in and joined extra tables to make one large one. He still wasn't eager to share Mikan with anyone, but he didn't have a good reason to tell them to leave without looking like an idiot again, so he was stuck with them. Of course he made sure that he was the one sitting next to her at the end with the rest of them sitting in a random order that completely disregarded their ranks.

Anna, Koko, Kitsuneme and Mochu who took on the roles of chef and servers, brought out the first elaborately plated dishes and placed it before them. He was just about the begin eating when Anna let out a soft gasp. Looking up, he saw Anna looking like she was about to cry. "Oh no! I'm sorry! I didn't think! You probably don't eat fish! It would probably be like cannibalism!" she exclaimed in horror.

Natsume looked at the woman sitting beside him with curiosity. He really had no idea what a sea dragon would eat.

Mikan blinked at Anna a few times before bursting out into laughter. The others around the table gave her varying odd looks. "I'm sorry," Mikan said waving her hand in a dismissive gesture "I would have never thought of that." She explained, still giggling before she calmed down "Ahem, you can be rest assured that sea dragons are just as much carnivores as air dragons. I'm sure you must have heard tales of giant sea monsters attacking and eating hapless fishermen. Those were probably ancestors of mine. I even have some distant cousins who made the Bermuda Triangle famous because they would eat just about anything that would drift into their territory. Once the area became a popular resort location though, they had to learn to adapt like the rest of us." Mikan then made a show of eating the fish in front of her to reassure Anna.

They ate the first few dishes in an awkward silence after that with no one really sure what to say before his sister attempted to strike up a conversation. "So Sakura-san, was there anything you were hoping to see while you are in Japan?"

Mikan gave her a surprised look. "Goodness, I don't know. I guess I didn't really think about it. Do you know of anything good to see around here? And please call me Mikan. It feels weird to be called Sakura-san."

"Well for obvious reasons we like to keep to ourselves so there is not much out here other than a hot springs which we own. If you like more exciting things like amusement parks and shopping you would be better off going into the city."

At this moment Koko chose to pipe up. "Oh! I know! I heard there was a festival going on in the city. You might like that."

"That sounds like it would be nice." Mikan said with a small smile while Natsume gave him a murderous glare.

Why on earth would the idiot suggest taking her to a place crowded with annoying, smelly humans? He knew Natsume hated crowds and he knew he hated human crowds more! He was tempted to singe the mind reader's hair when he caught the significant look Koko was giving him. The idiot looked at Natsume, rolled his eyes meaningfully to Mikan, then back to Natsume while making an odd expression with his eyebrows wriggling crazily. What the heck was wrong with him? He wondered, and looked at Aoi and Luka to see if they could understand what was going on with Koko.

_Do either of you have any idea what is wrong with that idiot?_ He asked them with his mind.

_The only idiot here is you Natsume._ Luka said with an exasperated tone. Natsume's brows came together. What was with everyone today? Normally Luka respected the difference in their ranks, but he was still technically his older brother by a few months and he wasn't above pointing it out to Natsume when he was acting stupid.

Aoi rolled her eyes at him. _Honestly Natsume! If you are interested in her, you should ask her to go with you to the festival!_ His sister said, with a tone that suggested he was the densest person on earth. The idea threw Natsume off. He had never been on a real date. With the exception of school he had never really interacted with anyone outside of his clan and he was like a prince to them, so he had never had the opportunity to actually date. How the heck do you ask for a date?

"If you would like to go," he began slowly, feeling like a total dork "I… we… I would be willing to show you around." By the gods of fire and air that sounded so stupid.

Mikan gave him an odd look again and nodded slowly. "Sure, that sounds okay." She answered neutrally. Her lack of enthusiasm was painfully apparent to Natsume and he was tempted to strangle Koko for putting him in such an awkward position.

"Great! Maybe we could all go together tomorrow!" Aoi exclaimed excitedly and then continued to prattle on through the different courses. By the time dessert was being served, he had learned a few more interesting points about sea dragons.

It surprised him that their society was matriarchal. In air dragons, males were the stronger gender and ruled. They even had control over their fertility and deciding when their mates would conceive. The only exception to that rule was when they coupled with human women. For some reason, such a union almost always ended with the woman carrying a draman baby.

In sea dragons, the reverse was true. Female sea dragons were stronger and the women could pick and choose when they would conceive.

Fertility wasn't exactly normal acceptable dinner conversation, but Dr. Imai and Aoi kept peppering her with questions about her kind and Mikan ended up just blurting it out. A revelation that almost had Natsume and several others a bit dazed and shell shocked. Clearly she was more open and blunt than he expected.

Another interesting fact about her was that she was only a few weeks younger than him. He was not so sure why it pleased him so much to be right about her age, but it felt like he had somehow solidified his right to claim her as his own.

"So your family lives in California? It must be nice there." Aoi asked.

"Actually, my family lives all over the place. I'm staying in California right now because that is where I go to university."

"Really? What are you taking?"

"Nursing."

"That sounds exciting. I keep thinking I would like to go to university because I'm not really cut out for the family business." Aoi said, causing Natsume and several others to stiffen.

"Aoi." He said in warning. His sister was saying too much. The clan business stayed within the clan, and their clan business was mostly assassination and mercenary work. Certainly nothing to be discussed openly with just anyone. He slid a look at the sea dragon beside him, but she was giving Aoi a sympathetic look.

"I understand what you mean. I have met several air dragon cliques and almost all of them had similar businesses." She said bluntly and almost gave everyone at the table a heart attack.

"You seem to know a great deal about air dragons." Natsume said cautiously.

"That's because I'm part air dragon."

Natsume's eyebrows shot up and he almost choked on his food. He had started to become accustomed to her open, blunt way of speaking but he wasn't expecting that! She was part air dragon? Other than the handful of draman in the compound, he had never heard of half-breed air dragons, much less air/sea dragons! Up until thirty seconds ago, he had never even considered the possibility.

Across the table he heard Luka choke out a "Really?" the blond suddenly looked far too interested in her for Natsume's comfort.

"My mother was a normal sea dragon, but my father actually a half-breed sea and air dragon."

"So what did that make him?" Natsume heard Mochu ask. He could sort of understand why the draman were so curious about other half-breeds. In their clan they were considered servants completely inferior to even the weakest full blooded dragons, but he still hated the extra interest in her. _Stop drooling on her you lechers, I saw her first._

"His dragon form was that of a gold air dragon, but he had several brothers and sisters of both kinds."

"Where are they now?" Luka asked.

"My parents died when I was very little so I usually live with my grandparents." She said quietly, and Luka apologized quickly for prying. "It's alright. My grandparents, who are still very much in love, had a whopping twelve kids. My father was the second oldest, and the youngest is only four years older than me. With such a big family, I grew up with a slew of aunts, uncles and cousins who are almost like brothers and sisters to me."

"That must make an unusual clique." Aoi commented.

"We don't all live together like a normal air dragon clique would. I honestly don't think our mixed lot would be welcome in any of the major cliques. Like your clan, most cliques frown on diluting pure bloodlines." She said simply, like being an outcast didn't bother her.

"I'm sorry. I should not have said that."

"No it is alright. My family is great. We may not all live together on one estate but we do stay close contact with one another unlike normal sea dragon families." Mikan told them with a far off look and winsome smile. It was clear she cared deeply about her family. He would be willing to bet that even when they were fighting, her family would still care deeply for one another. Oh how he envied her. With the exception of the people in the room and a few others, he couldn't stand his clan.

"So where is your family from if not from California?"

"My grandmother's ancestral home is on the shores of Loch Ness in Scotland, and we usually visit there in the summer. The cousin that I was talking to on the phone, lives there most of the time with her parents and comes over to see us at least once a year. Over on the North American continent, we have three homes along the coastline between Vancouver Island and Northern California, and two on the east coast that we all sort of shuffle back and forth from."

"Wow." Aoi breathed. "I've never heard of a dragon clan being so widespread. Don't you get in trouble with the clique whose territory you are in?"

"For the most part, no because we are rarely all together in one place. A king will usually overlook a few dragons in his territory as long as they abide by his rules. It would be a different story if we were all together. It would probably look like an invasion." She said laughingly.

"That sounds amazing, travelling place to place, free to do as you please." His sister said wistfully.

Natsume had to agree. It sounded like paradise compared to his life. His mind began wandering off on its own again, imagining flying under the cover of night and seeing the sun rise in a new location. It would be great to have the ability to just pick up and leave whenever the urge hit him. And maybe there would be a sea dragon in the waters below him to greet him at the shore when he landed. _I did not just think that. _He told himself rather firmly.

"Actually, it is kind of a pain. If you are in school you have constantly change-" Mikan's thought was overridden by Hotaru's voice.

"Hyuuga, Persona is coming." She said, causing everyone but the sea dragon to go rigid.

_Shit!_ He swore mentally. His uncle couldn't find them all like this sitting casually together. He would tell his grandfather, and the old man had strict rules of conduct for 'lesser beings'. "Shit." He swore again. This time aloud. "Get the extra dishes and tables out of here. Leave only her plate and mine." He commanded tersely and everyone started to move at once in a flurry of activity.

Next to him the sea dragon looked about with a confused expression. "Is something wrong? Should I leave?" she asked around, clearly confused. He reached over and gripped both of her shoulders a bit harder than necessary; forcing her to look at him.

"Listen to me. If you have even an ounce of self-preservation in you, you will play along and follow my lead." He told her harshly, unbuttoning the top few buttons of his top. "I don't have time to explain right now, but you have to trust me and play along." He pulled at the shoulder strap of her sundress but she smacked his hand away.

"Just what so you think you are doing?" she hissed at him, looking offended.

"Look, I told you that you have to trust me. I need you to do everything you can to convince the person coming through that door that we have every intention of having sex." He whispered urgently while his people cleared away all traces of their presence.

"You want me to what?" she asked, still looking offended.

There wasn't enough time to convince her, he could hear his uncle outside. Quickly, he grabbed her shoulders again and this time he pulled her in for a rough kiss.

And then his brain shut down completely.

tbc

Ack! Stopped when it was just getting good. Nasty, aren't I? The next chapter is probably going to be a bit tricky, so I am not going to make any promises about when it will be done.

Happy Birthday to Mikan, and Happy New Year to you all!


	10. Chapter 10

Wow! I reached 100 reviews! Thank you to everyone who sent in reviews! I love you all! I appreciate everyone being so patient for this chapter. It took a lot longer than I thought.

A Dragon's Heart – Chapter 10

Natsume hadn't actually planned on kissing her. All he was planning on doing was mussing her up a bit to make it look like they had been having a hot make out session. As soon as Imai had said that his uncle was coming he knew who had sent him and why.

His grandfather would not demean himself by coming to people, people came to him. Even his visit to the clinic was almost unprecedented. It was rather obvious Persona was probably sent to fetch Mikan, and Natsume had no intention of letting her go if he could help it. His quick mind figured that his grandfather might lose interest if he thought that Natsume had already had her. The old man's pride would never let him be second with anything especially women.

He made one huge miscalculation though.

He never figured kissing her would be like this. Hell, he didn't think kissing could be like this! Oh god did it feel good. Kissing her was everything kissing should be. His only thought if you could call it that was _more… closer… more._ When she made a little whimpering sound, it sent little electric shocks down his spine, through his belly and into his groin. Desperate for more, he grabbed a handful of her soft hair and pushed past the seam of her lips. Her taste was intoxicating and instantly addictive.

The deeper kiss hitched up his already tightly coiled lust like a spring, but he still wanted more. As tightly pressed together as they were, he still wanted to be even closer to her. The clothes between them, even their skin felt like an intolerable barrier. He wanted to soak her right into his skin; he wanted to be under her skin, he wanted, very much, to have her right there on the table.

He was thinking of moving them into a more workable position when an annoying sound distracted him. What the hell was that? It took a few more moments to recognize the noise as a rather impatient cough. With a rather painful wrench, he pulled himself away from her just far enough to breathe. It was a bit difficult because she was clinging to him almost as tightly as he was holding on to her. He was a surprised to find her in his lap because he couldn't remember pulling her onto him.

Now more aroused than he had ever been in his life, he pulled away a bit more and surveyed his handiwork. If he was hoping for mussed, she was well and truly mussed. Her hair was a mess, her sundress looked rumpled and was riding scandalously far up her thighs, her lips were kiss-bruised and there was a rather adorable blush flagging her cheeks. He wanted her so bad right now it hurt. _Fucking asshole Persona, you just had to interrupt._

Once Mikan's glazed eyes came back into focus and she saw that they were no longer alone in the room; she gave a cute little embarrassed squeak and scuttled back to her seat.

"Uncle, this is an unexpected surprise." He growled, not having to feign irritation at being interrupted. He made a deliberate show of adjusting the tight fit of his pants over his obvious arousal. Let his uncle think what he wanted to about that. With extreme luck, Persona would feel uncomfortable and leave them to continue what they were doing.

"Natsume. I see our guest is feeling much better." He said smoothly. If he was irritated or embarrassed about walking in and finding Natsume and Mikan practically laminated together, he didn't show it.

"Hello. I'm Serio Kuonji, Natsume's uncle, and son of the man whose territory you are in."

"Mikan Sakura. Pleased to meet you." She said in a chipper, but slightly strained voice. She gave an awkward little bow in her seat and her cheeks stained a deeper red. Whether by design or by accident, she looked very much like a young woman who had been caught making out with a young man and for that, Natsume was extremely grateful.

His uncle gave her a small nod "Natsume was supposed to inform us when you had recovered. My father would like to extend an invitation to dinner at the main house."

Mikan looked a little startled by his request, and flicked a look at Natsume. "Oh… well… I… uh…" she dithered, clearly unsure of what she was supposed to say.

"She and I have already made plans for the evening." Natsume told him while blatantly dropping his hand onto her knee and fondling it. The young woman flinched and sucked in a quick breath the moment his hand made contact. She then tried to slide herself away from him, but he squeezed her thigh hard in warning. _You have to keep playing along._ He said silently in his head, praying that she would remember.

Persona flicked a glance at Natsume's bold touching and then gave them both a flat look. "Indeed, well perhaps you would be available tomorrow."

"Well actually, Natsume said he would take me to a festival in the city tomorrow. Perhaps the day after?" she suggested and Natsume gave her inner thigh a tiny pinch. Idiot woman, if the old man didn't lose interest by then, he would hold her to that promise.

"Perhaps then." His uncle said with a non-committal tone and walked out.

As soon as he was out of sight, Mikan slapped Natsume's hand away and got up to stalk out of the room. Using his speed, he beat her to the door and blocked her path with his arm by holding it against the doorjamb while he casually propped himself against the opposite one.

"Move." She ordered not looking him in the eye.

"Where do you think you are going? Things were just getting interesting between us." He said, leaning in to nuzzle her neck. Her scent made his spine tingle. In response, she leaned as far away from him as she could until she had to take a step back to get away from him.

"Back off. I'm warning you." She said. Out of the corner of his eye he saw her hands and fingers dance in strange patterns.

Okay so maybe his first move was a bit aggressive and unexpected, but she clearly liked it so what was the problem? He likes her, she likes him, and all that is left is to get naked right? "You seemed to like me just fine a few minutes ago, when your tongue was in my mouth." He purred, leaning into her again but she just gave him a disgusted look and flicked her wrist at him. A second later he was slapped in the face with something wet.

_What the hell?_ He wondered wiping the back of his hand across his face. What just hit him?

He started to move his head to look for whatever had hit him when his slippery little sea dragon tried to sneak past him. He snapped his arm out and grabbed her before she could escape. "You aren't getting away that easily. You and I aren't done yet." He told her smoothly.

"That is where you are wrong. I'm leaving, now let me go or else." She hissed between clenched teeth.

"Or else what?" he asked, calling her bluff. She wasn't in the water, so he was fairly confident that he was stronger than her. Not that he wanted to force her to do anything, but it would be too dangerous for her leave now. "Were you going to kiss me to death? It might be an interesting way to die." He said suggestively. There was no doubt that she had to stay, but it would be so much better if she stayed in a bed with him.

"I said BACK OFF!" she yelled and with a flick of her wrist, his feet were swept out from under him. He landed hard on the wooden floor and found himself being pulled along the floor away from her towards the outside. For just a moment, he thought that she possessed Mochu's gift to move things with her mind until he realized that he was soaking wet. That was when he realized that she was somehow controlling the water from the koi pond. The water had somehow crested in a wave to wash across the floor and was now pulling him back.

Aoi must have heard all the yelling because she came running in to see what was wrong. Natsume couldn't even imagine what the scene looked like to his sister's eyes. "What is going on here?"

The water let go of Natsume and returned to its small pool allowing him to stand. "Look Polka-dots, you may not like it, but you can't leave now."

Aoi gave Mikan a stricken look. "You're leaving? Now? But you can't!"

Mikan's gaze shifted back and forth between the siblings and Natsume could sense her growing unease with them. "Look, I don't know what it is you think you are up to, but you will get out of my way or I'll drown the lot of you." She warned, while her hands and fingers swished and swirled at her sides in what Natsume now realized was her controlling water. From outside, Natsume was hoping that he was just imagining it, but he was sure he heard the sound of huge waves crashing against the take off cliff. He already knew water was her element, but it never occurred to him that she could control water like he could control fire. More importantly, it didn't have to be sea water and she didn't need to be in the water to control it.

"You wouldn't." he said calmly.

"Try me."

"You said it yourself. You are not a killer." He didn't know why he was so sure of that, but he was certain she would not hurt them. "Look Polka-dots-" he began.

"Mikan." She corrected ominously.

"I'm trying to protect you here. My uncle thinks we are having hot steamy sex right now. It would spoil the illusion if you left now." He explained carefully.

Aoi shot him a shocked look. "You did what?" her voice was reaching piercing levels. "Natsume, how could you?"

"Your jerk of a brother made me look like some kind of slut in front of that man, and he is an idiot to think I'm going to sleep with him." Mikan growled. "Now get out of my way, I'm leaving." She started to move towards the door again, but Aoi stopped her. She was careful not to touch the other woman or invade her personal space, but she still effectively blocked the door.

"Please! Don't leave. Look I know my brother can be a bit abrasive sometimes, but he is telling the truth. We really are only trying to protect you."

"I can take care of myself." Mikan said in almost the exact same tone she used with her cousin on the phone.

Aoi shook her head sadly. "Not if you intend to be anywhere in Japan you can't"

"What?"

Natsume walked up to her and tried not to be angry by the way she backed away from him. He was very much hoping that he didn't have to explain things to her. Hoping that maybe she would have wanted to stay with him of her own free will but his uncle's visit had spoiled all of that. "There used to be several dragon clans in this country. It stayed that way for millennia until he took over ruling our clan. Now whatever is left of the other clans is either broken and scattered, or he has taken them over completely. Pretty much all of Japan is now my grandfather's territory."

"And I care about your politics because… why?"

Aoi reached over to take her hands "Our clan is not like those cliques you are used to. Up to about World War II our kind was revered as gods. People would come to us to pray and give offerings. My grandfather was raised in that kind of environment."

"Stop making excuses for him Aoi and get on with it." Natsume grumbled.

"He considers anything in his territory as his." His sister blurted out quickly.

Mikan looked back and forth between the siblings again with a puzzled look on her face. Finally after what he was sure was at least half a minute, realization dawned on her face. It was a marvel at how slow she was to catch on. "You don't mean... He doesn't really…" she kept faltering on what she was trying to say so Natsume spelled it out for her.

"He's taken an interest in you and wants to make you one of his playthings. Your only real chance of escaping that fate is if he thinks I have already had you."

Mikan stared at him while she processed what he said. Eventually she made nasty sound in her throat "Argh, I've been around my family too long. The males in my family always treat me like a sister or daughter. I had almost forgotten that male dragons are little more than a life support system for and over-sexed penis." She gave Natsume a dark look and he returned one in kind. He was trying to be insulted, but at the moment, he felt the description was just a little too close to the truth. Ever since he had pulled her out of the ocean, the bulk of his thoughts happened below his waistline.

"Look I appreciate your _concern_," she said with a sarcastic emphasis on the word _concern_ "but as I said before, I can take care of myself. He is not the first dragon I've met that can't take no for an answer."

"Idiot!" he yelled at her, "This isn't a joke! Unless you have the will to back up that death threat, you are no match for him!" he did not like the idea that other males had been sniffing around her. Logically they would have been before he met her, but he was still annoyed at the idea.

"And that is all the more reason for me to just go back to the water and come out somewhere else!"

"As long as you are anywhere in Japan you are in his territory. And as long as you are in his territory, he has the right to take what he wants." He told her.

Mikan scowled at him. "So what makes him any different from you? A moment ago you were trying to take what you wanted."

Natsume scowled back at her. Now he was pissed. He didn't like being compared to the old man at all. "The difference is that I was giving you a choice."

"You call refusing to let me leave a choice?"

"You don't want to continue what we started? Fine! But your best chance to keep you out of his hands is to have him believe that you and I spent the whole night tearing up the sheets!" He bit out harshly before stalking through the door. Just as he passed the threshold, he turned and gave her a sour look. "And don't even try and pretend that I was the only one affected by that kiss Polka-dots. You wanted that every bit as much as I did!" He said, before storming out of sight.

He needed a shower. The smell of the water from the koi pond was all over him. What was worse was that under it he could also clearly pick out her scent all over him which did nothing for his raging hormones. He really needed something to burn off all traces of lust.

* * *

AN: Right, Natsume's thoughts are starting to get… err… bolder so this will be moved to 'M' rating on Monday. I probably should have done it sooner but I always feel ridiculous calling a story mature when the content is relatively tame.


	11. Chapter 11

Hello class! Today we will be discussing a new term. The term is **DRAGON STAIN**.

Dragons for the most part look identical to humans while in their human form with one glaring exception. The **dragon stain.** It looks almost like a snake or lizard skin tattoo and it is found on their back usually along the spine. Most often the color of the stain matches the hide of the dragon. Think of it like a dragon birthmark. Both air and sea dragons carry this mark.

Thank you again to all of you who sent reviews. Oh! And I just found out that LadyMaybel apparently nominated A Dragon's Heart into the fantasy category of the GA reader's choice '09. Thank you so much, that was very sweet of you.

Lastly, now that I have upped the rating to 'M' the content will be more risqué so beware! If you are not up for it, DO NOT READ IT! I don't want to scar anyone's mind. Also this chapter is almost twice as long as most of the other chapters I wrote so brace yourself.

* * *

A Dragon's Heart – Chapter 11

What the hell was with that jerk?

_The guy comes in a pretty enough package, but the contents suck._

Mikan didn't know what to make of him with all of his scowling and brooding. Not to mention he behaved like a complete jerk!

But even when she thinks that, she can somehow tell that there is more to him. For some reason that she has yet to figure out, she can pick up other impressions from him. There were times when she could pick up thoughts and feelings that completely contradict what was happening on the outside.

She had no idea what made her jump into the middle of that fight between Natsume and the scientists. Most sea dragons would have felt the commotion in the water and would have given it a wide berth and swum around it. Her non-flying relatives might have attacked the boat, but they probably would have done so in a passive-aggressive manner that didn't reveal themselves to the other dragons. They probably would have capsized the boat from a distance and made it look like a natural occurrence. Why oh why did she just swim out in to the middle of a fight like an idiot, when she is not much of a fighter?

Maybe Tsubasa and Sumire were right. Maybe she was too reckless. She came to Japan for a very important reason and she can't allow herself to get distracted. She supposed she could try and lie to herself and say she was just following up a possible lead in her search, but even she wouldn't believe that lie.

The truth was she was extremely curious. When she saw the red fighting in the sky she was almost compelled to get a closer look at him. He was so beautiful in his dragon form. She had seen dozens of air dragons and they were always impressive, but they had never sparked such a reaction in her. She felt his pull on her instantly. What made him so special?

_Just because he can kiss like a demon doesn't make him that great._ She told herself, trying hard not to think about their kiss. If she started thinking about their kiss she'd get mad. Not at him, she would get mad at herself. Why didn't she move? Why didn't she yell, or smack him or something? Why, of all things did she let herself get overwhelmed by her body's intense reaction to him? She didn't have time to be infatuated or distracted. Right now she had more important things to think about. She made and irritated sound and looked at the jerk's much sweeter sister. "Looks like I'm stuck here for tonight." She relented.

Aoi gave a big sigh and was clearly relieved. "I know we probably should have said something right away, but we didn't want to scare you off. You are the first sea dragon we have ever met."

"I noticed." She said sardonically. "Is there anywhere I can get changed and rest? I still feel a bit woozy." It wasn't something she wanted to admit to strangers, but it was pretty much true. If she needed to, she could go for a couple of days without sleep, but right now she was so tired, she could sleep standing up.

"You might still have some of that drug in your system. Maybe we should take you to see Dr. Imai again?" Aoi suggested and Mikan cringed inwardly. The healer seemed nice enough, but he asked too many questions. Questions that her kind would rather she did not answer. She still couldn't believe she told them about sea dragon fertility during dinner. It was like the filter between her brain and body was being bypassed whenever that jerk was around.

"No thank you. I'll be fine. I just need some sleep."

Aoi gave her an awkward look. "Is there anything special you need? Other than the water thing I mean?"

_Water thing?_ She wondered where the other young woman was going with that question and then it hit her._ Oh she means special sea dragon needs._ "No I just need some rest right now. I'll know when I have been out of the water too long. It's a bit like hunger or thirst; you can only ignore it for so long." Mikan reached down to retrieve her bag from where she left it by the door and gave Aoi and expectant look, hoping the other woman would take the hint to end the conversation and show her where she could change.

"You can get changed in the bathroom straight down at the end of the hall." She said pointing in the direction of the bathroom. "The guest room is just to the right of it." She told her, and Mikan trudged down the hall thankfully.

Lord did she feel worn out. It was almost all she could do to wash her face, brush her teeth and change. Tsubasa was always teasing her about her endless hyperactive energy but right now she felt like road-kill. Maybe she should have gone back to see the doctor. _Ugh, I don' wanna go. I wanna sleep. S_he whined quietly in her head. Pushing all thoughts about attractive jerks, nosy doctors, and being held against her will out of her head, she changed into a tank top and boxers for sleeping. _ I will need to visit the ocean when I wake up. If I still feel like crap after that I'll go see the doctor._

She shuffled sleepily out the door and turned to the room on her right. It was a lovely spacious room that she would take time to admire later. Right now her only interest was the large inviting looking bed. Without much thought she dropped her backpack by the door and flopped face first onto the bed.

She was out in less than a minute.

* * *

Natsume's blood was in a fine boil. Talking with Persona and arguing with Mikan had put him in a foul mood. Not to mention that he was extremely sexually frustrated. If his bastard uncle had not interrupted that kiss, he would probably be having the most exquisite sexual experience of his life right now.

He was frustrated enough that he decided not have a shower right after he stormed away from Mikan. Instead, he changed into a tee-shirt and sweats and bullied Luka to accompany him to the dojo where they spent a good hour thumping on each other until his brother told him he'd had enough of being his punching bag. After that, he went to the adjacent gym and worked out like a man possessed. He would much rather have gone flying, but his grandfather the dragon king would surely spot him either coming or going. He continued to work out until he had pretty much purged the lust from his system before finally returning to shower. He was still mad, but at least he wasn't acting like a hormonal teenager anymore.

The young red headed to his room still wearing his sweaty workout clothes with every intention of a shower. He entered the room blindly because his top was halfway through the process of being pulled over his head. His bare feet padded silently across the floor towards his private bathroom. He relied on memory to maneuver about until his head was pulled free of the shirt which he carelessly tossed into the laundry. He was pulling the drawstring on his pants when he spotted the figure lying in his bed.

At first, he thought it was one of the clan concubines and he was about to tell her to get lost when Mikan's unique scent hit him like a sucker punch in the gut and killed the efforts of the last few hours in seconds.

She was stretched out; face down, on top of the covers, wearing what appeared to be one of those weird sleep sets that women wear that are designed to look like men's undershirts and boxers, but come in girly colors or patterns. Not that he cared about pink and blue plaid boxers, but rather how well those boxers clung to her bottom and were topped with a rather deliciously snug pink top.

The growing shadows of the evening stretched across her long, lightly tanned limbs and he wanted nothing more than to run his hands and mouth up and down them. Her top had ridden up her ribcage a bit giving him a peek at a blue-green dragon stain that ran down her spine and disappeared underneath the waistband of her boxers.

Rather predictably, her presence gripped a hold of his senses and his body reacted like a compass pointing to her north.

His brain was getting more lust-fogged by the millisecond, but it managed to register a few questions. _Why is she here? Did she change her mind?_ Truthfully he didn't really care about the answers, he was just glad that she was there. For a while he was convinced he was going to have to go to bed alone, and he had no idea how he was going to do that knowing she was just across the hall. This was so much better. If he could just get her to where they were before, he had no doubt that they would be having the hot, steamy, sex that he talked about earlier.

In the hours that he had been working out, he had been trying to think of what went wrong before, so he could avoid it when the next opportunity came. Of course, he never would have guessed that opportunity would come so soon, but there was no way he would complain. The problem wasn't just his uncle. Sure, he interrupted them, but if she were another girl, she would not have minded picking up where they had been interrupted. He _knew_ she was just as turned on as he was when they were kissing, he could feel it in her. But then his uncle showed up and she just somehow blocked it or shut it off like wasn't there anymore.

The problem, the red deduced quite simply, was her brain. That annoying blob of useless grey matter between her ears was more trouble than it was worth. If she had the chance to start thinking –which she was obviously not good at- she would probably come up with a whole bunch of stupid reasons why letting him bed her was a bad idea. Then she would go on blathering about how much she didn't want it –which he was certain she did- therefore letting her think too much would be a big problem.

But how to approach her in a way that didn't let her think too much, but also didn't look like he was forcing her? More than anything, he didn't want her to think he was a male overcome with dragon lust or worse, just like his grandfather. He definitely did not want to give her a reason to hate him. _A kiss worked the last time._ He thought to himself. She might not like being woken up with a kiss, but if he could just get her past that 'thinking too much' stage, he could have her naked and under him in minutes.

His sweat pants made barely a whisper of sound as they slid down his legs leaving him in nothing but a pair of briefs. It was probably another overly bold and aggressive move of his to approach her in only his underwear, but it also never hurt to be prepared. Besides, one less obstacle meant one less opportunity for her to do that horrible thinking thing she was so bad at. Okay, so maybe he was hoping she would be enticed by the sight of his body as well.

Natsume stealthily placed one knee and then the other on the foot of the bed, waiting a moment to see if the jostling awoke his prey. Once he confirmed that all he could hear was her deep level breathing, he crawled ever so carefully up the bed until he was almost level with her. When he was sure that she was still asleep he came to the conclusion that either she was extremely tired, or she was a heavy sleeper. Either one worked in his favor.

Feeling far more confident now, he stretched out alongside of her and propped himself up on one elbow to look at her. _What is it about her?_ He wondered to himself not for the first time. He had never been so eager for a woman in his life, so what was so special about her? It was a question he was definitely going to have to find an answer for. Later though, for now he was enjoying himself immensely.

Her long brown hair was fanned out messily around her head and he was tempted as hell to push it away from her face, but he figured that would surely wake her so he kept away from the soft strands for now. Since she was facedown he had to be content with ogling the slight arch of her back with its dragon stain peeking out, her long smooth arms and legs, and the swell of her well shaped butt. Obviously her bottom was risky territory, but damn him if he didn't want to give it a good squeeze. Perhaps the legs?

Gently, with a touch as light as a butterfly wing, he reached out and ran his fingertips along one thigh, bracing himself against its effects on him. The surge of lust washed over him as he watched for any clue of a response from her. Mikan let out a long sighing sound and shifted her limbs languidly. Once she was done moving, he moved in for another caress, moving up higher and closer to what he really wanted to touch. This time her movement was more sensual and less sleepy and it was accompanied with a little moan.

Oh she was so going to be his tonight.

Feeling bold (and a little desperate to hurry up) he moved his hand to cup one plaid covered cheek and got the best response yet when her movement moved into his hand instead of away along with another moan. The action rolled her a little on to her side so that an entirely different swell was exposed in sharp profile against her tight fitting top. That sent his already strained hormones to the breaking point. He reluctantly gave her bottom a gentle squeeze then let go so he could move her hair away and nuzzle her neck.

And that was when everything turned to crap.

Mikan awoke with a startled gasp, registered someone was above her and instinctively rolled away from them with a startled yelp. It was a rather fluid and impressive move that ended up with her landing on the floor with a hard thump. As soon as she reached the floor though, she did not stop; instead, she scrambled across the floor in a crab-like fashion until her back was against the nearest wall. Only then did she stop to get her bearings and see who it was in the room with her.

"What? Where? Who?" she asked in slow succession as she looked around the room sleepy-eyed.

Natsume watched her more annoyed than amused. In any other situation this would seem quite funny, but right now it was interrupting his seduction. Finally, she focused on him and he watched the expression on her face change as a few of her sleepy brain cells kicked into gear.

"You? What the hell are you doing here? Get out!" she ordered.

Natsume gave her a bland look while trying to figure out a way to salvage his chances of having sex tonight. "This is my room. The more important question is what are you doing here? Were you planning on taking advantage of me while I was asleep?"

"What? But your sister said it was the room to the right of the bathroom. And get over yourself!" she said, answering both questions.

"This is would be the room on the left, and wouldn't it be better if I was over you?" he asked with blatant innuendo while moving off the bed towards her. She immediately started to slide along the wall away from him.

"What? How is that…? I was in the bathroom… and then… you stay right where you are!" She told him, her arm extended and pointing accusingly at him. At the same time she kept moving away from him, trying to keep some distance between them.

"Are you sure you want me to?" He asked, still moving slowly towards her. He didn't want to crowd or spook her, so he didn't use his dragon speed to corner her.

"Yes, now stay back." She told him in a shaky unstable voice.

"You keep saying that and yet every time I have my hands on you, I can tell you like it. A lot." He added casually with just a hint of smugness. He continued to slowly stalk her about the room, but very quickly she managed to get herself cornered.

She looked around and realized that she had nowhere to escape to and he saw something change in her eyes. "Alright, fine, I give up, you caught me. I admit it. You are attractive. The personality is a major turn off, but I can't deny that you are something to look at. So what now, am I supposed to flop onto my back with my legs in the air thanking my lucky stars?" she asked in a tone that was dripping with acidic sarcasm. No part of what she said was supposed to be an invitation, but he deliberately ignored the tone and answered as if it was.

He gave her a thoughtful look then nodded "I'm okay with that." He told her bluntly, and started moving close to her again.

She shot him a dirty look that that was both disgusted and disappointed. "Just because you have an itch and I happen to be close enough to scratch doesn't automatically mean you get relief. Now either back off and let me out of here or so help me I'll call the ocean to pull you out of my way and dump your useless arse in Antarctica."

Well that pretty much sealed his chances for tonight but he still wasn't through with her. "Why are you fighting what is clearly between us? You are a dragon. Are sea dragons so different from their flying cousins that they can just ignore their sensual nature?" He watched as her expressive eyes widened in surprise and he felt the odd mix of feelings inside of her. Her lust was there alright. It was an undeniable truth that she wanted him, but with it were other sensations that he couldn't pick out as clearly. Lust, pride, determination, fear, and a few others were like a boiling churning mass just below the surface. For the first time since meeting her, he acknowledged that there was no way he was going to get anywhere with her without putting forth some effort to remove a few obstacles. Having never had to work to get a woman before, the idea annoyed him. Still, he backed away enough to let her pass him.

Mikan slipped past him quickly and snatched up her backpack as she left the room. He was about to leave her with some kind of pithy, comment when he noticed that she did not enter the room across the hall. Instead, she went straight down the hall to the other wing of the house.

"Whoa, wait, just where do you think you are going to now?" he asked while chasing after her.

"There is no way I am sleeping across the hall from you." She hissed back.

"Don't you trust me?"

"Not a bit."

Ouch that hurt. "Look I'm not so depraved that I have to attack someone in their sleep."

"So says the guy who was molesting me in my sleep."

Well, maybe she had a point with that one. "I was just about to wake you up."

"Uh huh." She answered in a dubious tone and strode away from him. "Now where was that door?" she muttered to herself, and moved to open the door closest to her.

"No wait! Not that…" too late, she opened the door and they were both treated to the rather shocking view of his brother wearing only a pair of pants while holding his sister with his hands under her butt. His sister, in turn had her arms and legs wrapped tightly around Luka's neck and waist. The pair was in a deep and hungry kiss, and it took a moment for them to realize they were not alone.

Mikan made a strangled yelping sound and her eyes looked ready to pop from her head. "S-s-sorry. P-p-p-pl-please continue." She told them in the same strangled tone before shutting the door on them. "I thought they were your brother and sister!" she hissed at him while storming away from the door.

"They are my brother and sister." He told her in an irritated tone. "Luka and I have the same father. Aoi and I have the same mother. Aoi's father is my step father and raised me as his son." He gave a cold shudder. "Ugh, you know I could have lived a long and happy life having never seen that." Natsume hissed at her. He wasn't a fool, he was fairly sure the pair was already intimate, but that didn't mean he wanted to see it firsthand. Watching your brother and sister trying to eat each other's faces off was a bit mentally scarring.

"You're blaming me?"

Who else would he blame? He wasn't the idiot who just barged into a room without knocking. He was about to tell her that when the door opened again and Luka came out. "Natsume? Is everything okay?" Luka asked, his brother's face was an alarming shade of red.

Natsume waived his hand in a placating gesture but didn't want to look him in the eye. "Everything is fine Luka. Go back to Aoi; I know the two of you don't get to find that much time together."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Now go."

"Alright, but Natsume?"

"Yeah?"

Luka threw a button down shirt at him "For fire and air's sake put something on! You are going to give the house staff a heart attack walking about like that." He said he said with a grin, reminding Natsume that he was in nothing but his underwear and that said underwear was barely restraining a throbbing erection.

"Right, thanks." He said and quickly donned the shirt before he chased after Mikan.

He caught up to her and found her timidly knocking Hotaru Imai's door. _Oh Gods of fire and air don't go barging in that door _he thought to himself, and then he realized he was worrying for nothing. Imai rarely answered her door and she normally kept it magically sealed so she could work in privacy. Mikan looked over her shoulder and spotted him following her. In an impulsive attempt to get away from him, she reached for the door knob and miraculously opened the door.

This time it was Natsume who made the strangled sound as he tried his best not to laugh his ass off.

There stood Hotaru Imai in all her glory wearing a black lingerie with a leather corset and thigh high fetish boots no less. In one hand she held a rider's crop and in the other hand she held a silver chain that was attached to a studded collar. Her mate, Hayate was on all fours like a dog wearing a black g-string, along with the collar, and nothing else.

Wow. He knew the inventor was big on making people suffer, but he never would have guessed she was in to something like this.

Hotaru gave them both a cold look. "That door is supposed to be sealed." She said blandly.

Since Mikan was standing there frozen in shock, he grabbed the door knob from her "Sorry to intrude, carry on as you were." He told them with a smug look on his face as he closed the door. Oh he was going to love using that in his next negotiation with her.

Mikan was still frozen staring at the door. "Come on, we better get you out of here. The next door you open may blind us both." After what he had seen tonight, he was almost surprised he wasn't blind already.

Natsume quietly escorted her back to his room and sat her on the bed. She went along with him walking in a daze until she made contact with the bed. "What did you bring me back here for? I am not sleeping anywhere near you!" she told him firmly.

"After all of the trouble you caused today, I'm not letting you out of my sight." The woman was a menace. Besides, why should he be the only one who has trouble sleeping tonight?

She tried to get up, but he just grabbed her and pulled her back down. She started to thrash and yell so he covered her mouth with one hand and held her wrists above her head with the other. "Look if I promise not to remove any your clothing or my clothing and just sleep, will you calm down?" he asked her and she gave him a skeptical look.

After a few minutes, he removed his hand and she remained quiet. He was beginning to wonder if the feelings and sensations he could pick up from her worked both ways because somehow she could tell he meant what he promised.

"Just stick to your side of the bed okay? I like my space when I sleep." She grumbled, and then she saw him take off the shirt he was wearing. "Hey, you said you were going to keep your clothes on!"

"No I said I wouldn't take my clothes off. That shirt belongs to Luka not me."

She scrunched up her face at him and muttered "Jerk." before lying down, facing away from him.

He in turn, slid into bed and pulled her against him so he was spooning tightly against her. She made a protesting sound, but she was clearly too tired to argue with him over it. Come to think of it, now that he was lying down, the events of the last forty-eight hours caught up to him rather quickly and they were both out in less than fifteen minutes.

tbc

* * *

AN: You know Natsume never did get that shower. He is going to smell mighty nasty in the morning.

I apologize to anyone who was offended or upset by this chapter. It was definitely more risqué than any of the others. Especially the Hotaru part. I admit I have been dying to make Hotaru into a dominatrix for ages. She just seems to enjoy making Mikan and Luka suffer so much, I wanted to take her sadist tendencies to the next level. And what better masochist to partner her up with than Hayate? I had far too much fun writing it.

So for those of you who might have missed how Mikan ended up in the wrong room allow me to clear it up. Aoi said the guest room is on the right of the bathroom, but when you are in the bathroom looking out it would be on the left. Mikan's tired mind had right on the brain and went to the right, which is actually the room on the left. See? Easy mistake, I do stuff like that all the time.

Thanks again for reading! ^^


	12. Chapter 12

Thank you to all of you who sent reviews! Wow! I didn't scare all of you off with that last chapter! I'm glad that most of you see the humor in Hotaru's new side. Okay I'll stop delaying, on with the chapter.

A Dragon's Heart – Chapter 12

Mikan felt the itch before she heard the call. She was squirming in her sleep when her skin started to itch. It was a key sign for knowing when it was time to return to the water. She wasn't anywhere near the critical stage yet but that didn't mean she was inclined to stay like this for much longer. At that moment, lying in bed she just felt like she had dry, itchy skin all over, if she waited she could end up feeling like she had chicken pox or a head to toe case of poison ivy.

She was still trying to get her eyes open when she heard, or rather felt, the water calling her. The mournful cry could be felt all the way to her core. It was the call of something that missed its children terribly and had been waiting patiently for them to return. It was so lonely and filled with longing it almost made her want to cry. Now that it had felt the touch of a sea dragon again it didn't want to let her go. The call was too powerful for Mikan to ignore. She had to get to the water now. But first she had to get rid of the dead weight that was pinning her down.

Mikan opened her eyes and looked around her. It was still well over two hours until dawn but her eyes adjusted quickly to the dark. She turned to look at the other occupant of the bed. The man slept like an octopus. She wasn't kidding when she said she liked her space. When they were younger, she and Sumire would be stuck sharing a bed when one came to visit the other. Her cousin was always complaining that she slept like a starfish, but this guy out did her hands down in the taking-up-space department. He had a king size bed and somehow took up almost all of it.

And gods of the sea and land, did he stink. What the hell, did he have some sort of glandular disorder? She must have been more exhausted than she thought to be able to sleep with that next to her. Yuck, now she had another reason to get to the water just to get his stink off of her. The water might spit her back out though with his manky smell all over her. She was tempted to jab him hard in the ribs to get his gross arms and legs off of her, but that would surely wake him and she needed to get to the water more than she needed to ruin his sleep. Quickly and quietly, she extracted herself one limb at a time. It was feat that would do a gymnast proud.

First she managed to slide one leg and the arm on the same side out and put them both on the floor to brace her if she fell. She then managed to slowly and carefully slide her other leg out, suffering through a moment of pins and needles as full circulation returned to her foot. Jeeze he was heavy when he slept. How can the people on TV always look like they are so happy cuddling in bed when it is so damn uncomfortable? The hardest part was the arm around her waist. It was reluctant to let her go and kept trying to hold on to her every time she got a bit free. She was stuck there for several minutes half on and half off the bed when she was able to wedge his arm off her and slide out fast before he had a chance to grab her again. He really was an octopus. _Grabby creep._

Without bothering to change her clothes, she found her way back to the room they had dinner in and then was able to backtrack her way outside.

The closer she got to the ocean, the stronger she felt its call to her. It was getting impatient feel her touch and wanted her to hurry. When she reached the cliff, she didn't even pause; instead she dove right in and indulged in the water's exultation at having her close again. Transforming, she felt the spirits of the deep slide along her length singing a sweet song of loving welcome. The water happily danced along her skin while she spun and looped and raced through it. The water's excitement was infectious and she let out a sea dragon's equivalent of a giggle while she played in the surf. If she could have, she would have indulged all day in that celebration of her return but she knew she could not.

As dawn started to approach, she felt the building of its power and swam over to a rocky out cropping that was just down from the cliff plateau she had dived off of. Transforming to human and pulling her free of the water she pulled herself up on to a rather odd rock formation that was flat and large enough to handle her dragon form. Nestled against the rock wall was an old and forgotten shrine. It was high enough to avoid the tide, but time and the weather had not been kind to it. She idly wondered if this was where people used to pray to Natsume and Aoi's ancestors like she mentioned.

Putting the thought away, she faced the water as the power of dawn started to ripple across her skin. She was not as gifted in calling the dawn magic as most of her other relatives, but somehow she was certain this time it would answer her.

The power built higher and tighter, she called the words to invoke the sea. For some strange reason, she made a last minute decision to call in Japanese. Water did not understand the concept of language probably would not care but in this place she felt it would be appropriate.

"To my brothers of the deep, swirling currents and to my sisters of the quick, cresting waves please hear my call." The power swirled around her and flooded into her until she thought she might burst from it. The water was so eager to answer her; it was almost more than she could hold. "Please!" she yelled out to the water through clenched teeth. Her bones felt like they were rattling with the power. "Tell me what became of our brother and sister sea dragons that once swam here! Please show me what has happened to those beloved to these tides!"

Impressions and images flickered through her mind, images of several different sea dragon families. Each family was aware of the others and all swam in these waters, but all of them pretty much kept to themselves. Occasionally, they would intermingle and mate creating a new family group, but that was about it. For the water, that was the way of things for as long as it understood the concept of memory. Then the family groups started disappearing. One, by one, they just seemed to vanish from existence. The very last memory it had of a sea dragons before Mikan came was that of a heavily pregnant female rushing away to distant waters.

That was alarming. The concern of the spirits in the water over this female was still present and palpable. Open oceans were too dangerous pregnant females. They usually gave birth in the calmer waters of lakes or lagoons. The water had a vague understanding of her delicate condition and had tried to control its raging winter waves and currents to ease her passage, but it never saw her again. No sea dragons were seen after that.

As the power was waning, Mikan felt her disappointment grow. The water did not know why all the sea dragons left. Quickly, before the power left her completely, she asked "Please tell me, were there any humans or air dragons attacking or hunting them?" when she said 'humans' she used a visual impression in her mind of the scientists' boat that she attacked the other day. When she said the word 'dragon' instead of projecting an image of one of the many air dragons she knew better, she projected an image of Natsume. The dragon image was superimposed with his human one.

Either the water did not understand her question, or it was never witness to an attack, because it remained silent and unhelpful. As the last traces of the dawn's power left her, the water did something far sneakier than she would have guessed water would be. Somehow the water and the spirits in it were able to deduce that one lone female sea dragon could not make more sea dragons without a male. Although she had not intended to project any attraction to Natsume's image when she broadcast it, the water was still able to pick enough out of her head to work with.

She dived back into the water to play some more, but found herself constantly pelted with images of the red in both his dragon and his human form along with feelings of neediness and longing. _How strong he is… __lonely__… how handsome… __so very lonely__…_

At first, Mikan thought she was going crazy or delusional because her mind kept going back to him and thinking about him. It wasn't until the water started pointing out what fine alpha male he was that she realized the thoughts were probably not her own.

_Powerful and healthy… __so empty__… an excellent male… __need__… so very strong and handsome… virile… such an incredible kisser… a superior mate…_ The litany went on and on. Water was obviously not capable of human speech, but she could feel the words almost as strongly as she heard its lonely call that morning.

For a while she allowed the water to do as it pleased because she kind of felt sorry for how lonely and abandoned it felt. Eventually though, the images started getting bolder and more personal. _I wasn't that fixated on the sight of him in his underwear so stop going there!_ She ranted in her head. Honestly! It was the water was distorting her memories; she was not some kind of pervert! It wasn't like she was actually focusing her attention _there_ he just happened to be in tight fitting underwear, and she just happened to notice that he was really… well… hard. _Horny_ her mind annoyingly supplied. She was glad she was in dragon form or she would be blushing to the roots of her hair for thinking about him and that word in the same thought.

* * *

Mikan wasn't the only one getting her own customized erotic slide-show. Waves crashed along the rocks and cliffs forming huge, frothing sprays. The mists from those sprays traveled lightly along their cousin the wind, up the cliffs, across the ground and through the window of their other sleeping target.

Natsume was deep in dreamland. He was stranded in the middle of an open plain, hungry and very, very thirsty. He didn't know when he had ever felt this thirsty before. He would kill for a glass of water right now. His mouth felt like he had been eating sand. On instinct, he transformed into his dragon form and flew about looking for water. Eventually, he found a small stream and he dove after it like a mad man. He splashed into the water and dunked his snout in to start drinking. Something was wrong though. The water was cool and clean, but it was by no means refreshing. It did nothing to slake his intolerable thirst. No matter how much he drank, he would only end up thirstier. Frustrated, he let out a roar while thrashing his tail and ruffling his wings as if the water would somehow obey his commands and become refreshing.

All of a sudden, –as dreamscapes are prone to do- a tree appeared by the water. _Was that there before?_ He wondered to himself but then decided he didn't care for on one of the branches was a lone fruit. Natsume quickly moved to the tree and changed back into his human form to study the fruit. It was a very large tangerine. The fruit was lush and ripe and juicy looking. He just knew by looking at it, it would finally quench his maddening thirst. A stray thought drifted across his mind _I don't like tangerines though_ he thought, which was true, he would never pick a tangerine to eat if given a choice. In the blink of an eye the tangerine changed into a ripe juicy looking peach. _Peaches are better, but strawberries are my favorite _he thought idly to himself. For just the briefest moments, he was sure felt someone or something get irritated with him and he was certain heard someone tell him '_Willful male, just go with it._' But then he quickly forgot everything and the thirst was back on him tenfold.

Without bothering to question anymore, he climbed up the tree and plucked the fruit from it. His mouth started to water just holding it. It was so firm and lush and velvety and juicy '_Just get on with it!'_ He opened his mouth wide and bit his teeth into the soft flesh.

Instantly the whole dreamscape changed.

He was no longer in the middle of nowhere; he was in Mikan's arms. His mouth was no longer biting into a juicy peach, it was attached to hers and they were already deep in the act of lovemaking. The young red recovered quickly to the change in scenery and started touching everything and anything his hands could reach while quickening his pace with his lover. She was just as amazing as he knew she would be. He was close, ever so close to the end. Finally, with a grateful roar, he reached his climax.

The incredible flash of ecstasy brought him crashing back to reality where he was lying in his bed, soaked in sweat and other body fluids and reeking to high heaven. He lifted his head to look around. His bedcovers had been kicked off at sometime and he noticed that he was alone with Mikan's faint scent still lingering in the air.

"What the fuck?" he grumbled, feeling angry and out of sorts. _Where the hell is she? Her bag is still here, _he thought, spying the torn backpack by the door, _but her scent says she has been gone a while._ He was tempted to go find her but then he noticed his rather sodden and smelly state and gave and angry growl. _Dammit! I can't go out like this._

Natsume reached over for his phone and hit one of his speed dials with a bit too much force. It answered on the third ring.

"Imai." The voice said flatly.

"Imai, where is she?" he demanded.

"You've lost her already? I suppose I can find her for the right price."

"Imai, don't even start with me today or I may see it as a challenge to my authority." He warned. He was not in the mood for her schemes today. Just because he tolerated her insubordination did not mean he had to. By the kings laws he was well within his rights to permanently disfigure her. He could blind her, scar her, or ground her by ruining one of her limbs so badly that her dragon wings would never properly form again. No one would be able to stop him.

There was a long pause on the other end of the line. Hotaru was no fool. She knew him well enough to know when she had reached her limits. "She is swimming in the ocean, heading towards the beach."

"Good. Keep an eye on her while I clean up and change. Or better yet, have someone go over to her and tell her we are leaving for the festival in an hour and to get ready. If anything unusual happens, tell me right away." He hung up on her and went straight into his shower.

* * *

Mikan was shocked at herself. She could not believe what had just happened. The water had fed her mind with images of her actually having sex with Natsume! As far as she knew, water spirits should not be able to do that. She had chided the water for interfering too much and it stopped, but the images were now burnt into her mind and would not go away. She stayed in the water a little longer than she expected in order to cool her and her wandering mind off.

She swam sluggishly towards the beach because she could not see any easier way to get to the estate where her things were that did not involve flying. She had to hand it to this clan's ancestors; it was a great spot for dragons. Surrounded mostly by water and high cliffs, limited points where a walking creature could approach, it was a good site.

When the water became shallow, she transformed and swam the rest of the way. It was a surprise to her to find the woman she saw last night and her mate waiting for her on the beach. What was her name again? She had met so many people yesterday; it was hard to keep track of them all.

As she trudged up the beach the woman handed her a towel. "Thank you. Erm, forgive me, but I seem to have forgotten your name." She told the woman with and awkward look.

The woman kept a cold neutral expression on her face that made Mikan feel like a total idiot for forgetting. What? It wasn't her fault she met so many people yesterday! They only had to remember her one name when she had, what, like thirty to remember? Anyone could forget a name or two or ten in that.

"Imai Hotaru, but you may call me Hotaru. This is my mate Matsudaira Hayate." She said, and her mate nodded in Mikan's direction but stayed back.

Mikan gave her a surprised look. Even though she was not of the custom to calling anyone but teachers and old people by their family name, she did understand enough to get that almost no one called this young woman by her first name. "Oh thank you. Good morning, please call me Mikan and thank you for the towel."

"You seem to have a habit of coming out of the ocean in see-through clothes. I may have to punish Hayate for looking at your chest." Instead of looking frightened, her mate had a strange hopeful look on his face.

Mikan quickly looked down at her chest and realized that it did look a bit transparent. "Sorry." She said embarrassed. "Normally I change into a bathing suit, but this morning I was in a bit of a rush."

Hotaru raised an eyebrow at her. "Were you out of the water too long?" she asked, and if Mikan was not seeing things, she looked a tiny bit concerned.

"It was starting to get uncomfortable, but it was not so bad." She was about to go on explaining that it was more the water's fault, but she did not want to even think about what the water did to her so she stayed silent.

"I see. You should be more careful and swim just before you sleep."

"Don't worry about me. I am more than capable of taking care of myself." Seems she was saying that a lot lately. Did she have a sign over her head saying helpless woman in blinking neon?

Seemingly out of nowhere Hotaru started talking. "My brother and I were not born in this clan." She began slowly. "Our clan was so small we thought we could escape the king's notice. We were wrong. When Kuonji took over our clan Natsume sheltered my brother and I. He did not have to protect us but he did. He allows us more freedom than the king ever would. My brother and I are very well aware of the debt we owe him but we have been unable to find anything he wants in order to repay him."

Mikan gazed at her speechless. "I'm sorry, but I don't understand why you are telling me this?" The woman didn't strike her as the sharing type.

"Because I just heard Hyuuga, truly exert his authority for the first time ever." Hotaru answered thoughtfully then her expression cleared to her normal bland one. "Hyuuga says we will be leaving for the festival in an hour and you should get ready."

Mikan still was not sure what it was the raven haired woman was trying to say. What does Hyuuga being a jerk have to do with her? It was probably better just to go with the flow and not say anything until she can get some more clues.

The three of them mounted a very unusual looking contraption that looked like something out of an amusement park ride. It looked like a cross between a banana, a five person bike and a scooter. It was hideous looking, but it got them back to the estate quickly without any trouble so she didn't complain.

Hotaru escorted her to her guest room and followed her inside. "I have something for you."

"Oh?" Mikan asked, turning to look at her.

The other woman held up what looked to be a cell phone. "This will be the next generation I-phone. It is a prototype that was not due to be released to the North American market for another four years. Currently I have only made six of them. My mate and I each have one, the Hyuugas, my brother, and now you."

Mikan gave her an uncomfortable look. "That is really nice of you, but I can't take that."

"I was not giving it to you for free." Hotaru told her in a slightly cross tone "Now then, before I was interrupted, I was saying I have modified the phone for your needs. Not knowing your maximum diving depth I made it capable of going underwater up to seven thousand meters before reaching crush depth. The casing is also reinforced to withstand sudden shocks such as a bullet impact." The woman paused in her monologue to drop the phone on the floor and shoot it with a strange looking gun. BAKA BAKA BAKA! The loud odd sounding discharge made Mikan jump like the poor phone did on impact, but Hotaru and the phone looked completely unaffected.

"The outer skin of the casing has a thin layer of photo reactive gel that can change colors and offer a few select patterns." She told Mikan while retrieving the phone and pushing a few buttons. Mikan was amazed to watch the outer shell of the phone change colors on its own.

"Wow, you made that?"

Hotaru gave her another one of those looks that made her feel stupid. "That is what I do. Now stop interrupting. I retrieved what was left of your old phone and was able to pull enough data from it to retain your old number, which I have programmed this phone to. I was also able to retrieve most of your contact numbers, text messages and music which have also been loaded. I have added a few applications that I thought would be helpful to you and because your family is so widespread I have programmed it for free long distance and international calls."

Mikan was feeling a little dazed. Who the heck was this woman that she could make a phone like that? "So, if you aren't giving it to me for free, then what do you want for it?"

"I want three things. First is that you forget that little scene you saw last night." She told her causing Mikan to start laughing. Hotaru of course interpreted this to mean that Mikan was laughing at her and a vein started to throb at her forehead. "Care to explain what is so funny?" she asked darkly.

"Is that what this is all about?" Mikan asked, still chuckling. "You could have saved yourself the trouble Hotaru I'm not that kind of person. All you had to do was ask and I would have kept quiet." Hotaru gave her a look like she was speaking a different language.

"That would be foolish. You are in a position of advantage over me. It would be stupid not to reap the benefits of that position."

"Your business is just that. _Your business._ If you don't want anyone to know what you do in the privacy of your own room, who am I to tell? Besides, the way I saw it, you were not doing anything that Hayate did not want." Mikan said with a cheeky smile.

"That makes absolutely no sense. You have a chance to profit but you choose not to? Stupid."

"Fine then, you can just call me stupid. I like you Hotaru. You are straight up front and honest. You are a strong woman and people take you seriously. I respect that. If you want me to keep your privacy all you have to do is say so."

Hotaru squinted at her "You are a very odd woman."

"I thought you said I was stupid." Mikan said teasingly.

"Well you are that too."

Mikan rolled her eyes at her "Thanks." She said sarcastically. "So what were the other things you wanted?"

"The second is to give Hyuuga a chance."

"A chance?" To what? Sexually assault her again? _No I don't think so._ She thought, but she did not want to be rude while she was in someone else's home, so she stayed silent. "What else?"

"Tell me how did you break the seal on my door?"

tbc

* * *

AN: I swear, I thought this chapter would be shorter than this. I wanted Mikan's talk with the sea, her and Natsume's water/dream thing and her talking to Hotaru. That shouldn't take too long right? I figured I might have even had room to spare and maybe put a bit of the trip to the festival in. Yeah right. 4000+ words later. I keep thinking I will trim these chapters down and all I do is make them bigger. What the heck is wrong with me?


	13. Chapter 13

Thank you to all of you who sent in reviews and questions! You guys are so great! Please forgive the poor editing of this chapter. It was very late at night.

A Dragon's Heart – Chapter 13

Mikan stared at the woman with her mouth gaping open like a fish? "S-seal? I'm sorry what seal?" Oh gods, she hoped that didn't mean what she thought it meant. She had been trying so hard not to openly display what a freak she was from the rest of dragon kind. One would think all the teasing and bullying she had endured as a child would have taught her to be more careful, but every now and then her freakishness just popped out.

When she was younger she could never understand what she had done to be cursed as she was.

Creatures that had magic in them valued and treasured the magic that set them above humans. It was the proof of their superiority. Evidence that they were better than the useless egotistical masses that were convinced they were the dominant race on this planet.

It was the one thing they valued the most, and it was the one thing she could take away from them just by standing near them. And boy, did they detest her for it.

Her closest family members tried to give it all sorts of friendly, politically correct names like 'nullification', but the names she heard most were along the lines of 'that freaky brat that fucks up my power'. With the exception of her close family, other mystical creatures, especially dragons almost always ended up hating her and hating to be around her.

When she was a kid she had no control over her ability and it would surge out whenever she was excited or upset. At first she didn't even know that she was the cause of people suddenly losing their magic. It just looked like their magic stopped working for no reason. Abilities would just disappear, transformations would sometimes revert, and it looked like a real mystery.

Eventually though, they noticed that it only happened whenever Mikan was around. Once they came to that realization, they would remember that magic had sometimes acted funny around her father too. Her father must not have been as strong as she was because whenever he did it, others would just write it off as a prank or something. Mikan's abnormality was clearly on another level because it happened even when she didn't want it to and it had sent her crying in the privacy of her bedroom more than once. It was always bad enough for her to always be keenly aware of how different she was to all of the human kids in school, but she did not fit in with her own kind as well.

_Mikan the freaky brat _she thought bitterly to herself. _I should have been more careful. _It would not do well for her to start making enemies before she even had a chance to look around Japan_._

"My door is magically sealed to prevent annoying interruptions. You should not have been able to open it, so how did you?" Hotaru inquired politely. The young woman had a completely neutral expression on her face, but there was something about her eyes that told Mikan the woman was more curious than she let on.

"Are you sure you had the seal on?" Mikan asked while mentally scrambling to find a way out of this topic of conversation.

"The seal is automatic whenever the door closes."

"Oh. Why would you have a seal instead of a normal lock?" she asked, trying to distract with a dumb question.

"A lock is not what I consider to be sufficient security. I have many secret projects that I am working on and I don't want them compromised."

"You keep them in your room?" Mikan asked. She could not keep this up long; she was running out of questions.

"Sometimes. Now I would appreciate it if you would stop avoiding my question. My security should not be so easy to break through."

Busted. The woman was a lot smarter than Mikan hoped. "Yeah… well… if it was magic, sometimes magic doesn't work normally around me." She tried evasively. With luck, Hotaru would leave it at that. The absolute last thing she wanted to say was that she could cancel out magic at will. She was fairly sure it would not go over so well.

Hotaru gave her a skeptical look. "I see." She said, and to Mikan's great relief she didn't pursue the matter.

Trying to break the tension, Mikan changed the subject. "So what should I wear to a festival? Should I wear a dress or would a tee-shirt and shorts do?" she asked brightly with her smile almost too wide to hide her nervousness.

Hotaru gave her a scary smile that made her look predatory. "I'm sure we can find you something to wear. You should go clean up though." Mikan ran off to the bathroom without further complaint, relieved to get out of the room.

She probably indulged in the hot water a bit too long, but she was a sea dragon. It was in her nature enjoy the feel of water on her skin.

When she returned to her room she was surprised to find Hotaru, Aoi and two other women there. She couldn't remember their names any better than she could remember Hotaru's. The only thing she did remember was the girl with the wavy pink hair was the one who served her dinner and that she now had a breakfast tray set out for Mikan. Mikan barely got the last bite of her food before they pounced on her.

Until that moment Mikan would have sworn up and down that there was no such thing as a hostile make-over, but she would have been wrong. They were vicious monsters that attacked her hair, body and face all at once. Mikan might have tried to fight them off but the odds were four against one. She would probably lose.

The results were quite astounding once they were done though. Her hair was put in a side tail that cascaded over her shoulder in loose ringlets. The girl with the dark blue hair -Nonoko, she reminded Mikan- had created a new perfume free make-up that she applied in a rather attractive manner. To top it off she was dressed in a very formal, very expensive looking kimono that was almost the same color as her dragon hide just a bit more blue than her. It even had a gold decorative pattern and trim. Mikan studied herself in the mirror. She had to admit it looked really pretty. She had no idea how she was going to be able to move around or go to the bathroom in this getup, and she would probably keel over and die if she found out the price of it, but it pretty none the less.

"Forgive me for asking a stupid question, but why am I in this? Wouldn't a normal dress be better and easier to move in?" Mikan asked. The other four women in the room gave her varying looks that all seemed to scoff at her.

"We may live in a modern age and humans may only think of us as myth, but we still have appearances and traditions that we uphold." Aoi said.

Anna and Nonoko nodded before Anna added her own thoughts. "We don't normally bother with human celebrations, but if we choose to take part, we will do so in a style that is befitting our clan."

"Oh. Well then how come I'm the only one dressed this way?" she asked, noting that the other women were just in normal clothes.

"Oh we will be getting changed in just a moment. We just wanted to make sure you were set first." Nonoko told her.

Shortly after that the four women left and Mikan shuffled awkwardly around her room afraid to move too much and wrinkle her pretty clothes.

~*~

* * *

Ugh. Natsume always hated going out in traditional formal clothing. It annoyed him to have humans gawking and staring at him. If he was really unlucky, some would try taking pictures of him like he was some kind of tourist attraction. He was about to leave when his sister waylaid him at the door to his room.

"Natsume, everyone is almost ready. Mochu is pulling the bus around." She told him.

"Bus? Just how many people are going to this thing?" he was hoping to get in and get out quickly.

"Everyone!" she answered happily, then she looked at him and frowned. "Natsume you are not wearing your crest and color."

He sighed and made an irritated growl at her. He didn't want to wear his crest. He felt like an overdone peacock already he didn't need to make it worse. Besides, they were going to be in a crowd full of humans. It was unlikely that he was going to run into any supernatural creatures, so he didn't need to strut around with anything announcing who he was.

A lot of dragons were quick to show off their rank or bloodline by wearing some form of ornamental crest. Most commonly it was either a ring or a pendant, but in a fit of rebellion Natsume chose to make his an ear cuff and earring. It wasn't that he really wanted an earring and cuff; it was just that he knew his grandfather would hate it so he chose to wear a gold cuff engraved with his crest and an earring with a gemstone of his dragon color. Any mystical creature that saw him would know he was a high ranking red dragon from the Kuonji clan.

He and his sister stared at each other for a few moments until he relented and let her attach his annoying ear pieces. It would not have done him any good to argue with her anyway. Not unless he wanted to be nagged all day long for not wearing them. Natsume endured the momentary torment and then moved towards the door but Hotaru stopped him by blocking his path.

"Imai. Did something happen?" he asked, figuring that since she only talked to him when something was wrong, the chances that something had gone wrong was the most logical possibility.

"I like her."

"What? Who?" Big duh. It would be obvious to anyone which her Imai was referring to. They were not exactly flooded with new people to get an opinion on. Hotaru gave him a rather scathing look for being intentionally stupid.

"She is not like anyone I have ever met." She told him, and he couldn't think of anything to say to that. He had never met anything like Mikan either. Electing to stay silent he just waited until she got to the point.

"I will help you in courting her."

Courting her? Hell, he didn't want her as a mate. He just needed to cure the insanity she induced in him. Once he finally purged her from his system she would be far better off if she went back home and never saw them again. Not that he would tell Imai that. He was nowhere near that stupid. Imai could be resourceful and if she was going to try and help him get Mikan into his bed, he was damn well going to take that help.

"Is that it?"

"I also think she is hiding something. She is a bit too open and honest for her own good. It makes her a terrible liar."

Yeah Natsume suspected as much already. His gut or his sixth sense of her told him it wasn't anything that he should be alarmed about so he chose to put it aside. He would figure it out sooner or later. Of that he was certain.

Natsume gave her a brief nod and pushed past her to Mikan's room across the hall. The door wasn't latched so he shoved it aside and strode right in. She was probably already ready and decent, but he could still hope that some part of her was unclothed.

Whoa was he wrong.

It was obvious that his sister had been at her. No one in their right mind would carry an elegant kimono in a back pack. It clearly belonged to the clan. He wondered if anyone told her that it was genuine silk and that it was most likely a couple of centuries old.

Nastume didn't really like kimonos. They were not the most flattering garment to a woman's figure. If anything, it was a throat to toe sheath that did everything it could to hide a woman's curves. He certainly thought Mikan looked a hell of a lot sexier in that little sleepwear outfit she wore last night

Still, just looking at her all dressed up the way she was he could almost understand why humans worshiped their kind. There was an ethereal quality about her that almost screamed that she was so much more than an average human. Behind that lovely facade there was a vibrant pulsing energy that made her glow from within. There was something else when one looked at her, something wild and untamable as the ocean in her. She looked every inch a goddess of the water and he felt substandard and unworthy. It took a lot of effort not to gape at her like some ignorant peasant.

It was just as well that he had control of his expression with Aoi and Hotaru there to watch his reactions.

"Doesn't she look nice Natsume?" Aoi prompted.

He gave his sister a droll look "She looks like a sushi roll."

Mikan narrowed her eyes at him "Ohhh fish jokes and I'm a sea dragon. Real funny coming from an overdressed peacock." She said acidly.

He gave her a cunning smile and put his hands at his collar as if he was going to remove his haori. "If you would rather see me undress I would be happy to grant your wish, but I insist you repay in kind." He told her with a suggestive leer and enjoyed the way color flooded her cheeks and she stormed out of the room.

As she pushed past him he clearly heard her mutter "Pervert." under her breath at him.

His sister and Imai gave him matching looks of disgust. "What?" he asked them, completely unrepentant of his actions.

~*~

* * *

It was not that big of an exaggeration when Aoi said that everyone was going. Just about everyone that was at dinner the night before was on the bus and they were all dressed in traditional formal-wear. They were so going to stand out.

He wanted to sit with Mikan next to him, but she killed that idea by making sure she sat with the handful of children that were on the bus. The kids appeared to be quite taken with her. They couldn't stop asking questions the whole trip.

"How big do sea dragons get?"

"What colors do they come in?"

"What is your favorite food?"

"What powers do they have?"

"Don't you get cold in the water?"

"What is your favorite color?"

Natsume had to forcefully keep his mouth shut. He was tempted to yell at them all for being so noisy, but every time he was about to, Mikan would look his way and give him a silent rebuke and he was forced to choke back his words.

The really irritating part came when Mikan asked questions. Unless she directed the question to one person practically the whole bus nearly fell all over themselves and each other trying to be the one to answer her. Everyone was quite enchanted with her.

It was beneath him to pout or be petulant but a small part of him wanted to yell 'MINE!' Every single one of them including the children knew that he had set his intentions on her so what the hell were they doing getting in his way? By the time they arrived at the festival she had most of his people wrapped around her little finger.

The bus stopped a ways away from bulk of the attractions so they had to walk the rest of the way. As soon as they stepped off the bus Natsume wrinkled his nose. The stink caused by masses of humans with their sweat and bad breath mixed with cigarettes, perfumes, deodorants, shampoos and cosmetics assaulted his nose. A few had similar reactions and Youichi sneezed four times in succession.

_Whatever you do Natsume_ he told himself fiercely, _don't throw up._ He would never live it down if he lost his breakfast right now. The smell of humans usually put him off, but with thousands all crowded together in a very small area the effect was ten times worse.

"Imai! Tell me you have some magical gizmo or whatever to do something about them!" Oh god, he had to fight back his gag reflex.

Imai did not answer him. Instead she turned and called out "Nonoko?" who in turn bustled forward with something that looked like a tiny spray bottle. Almost like breath spray. Great, just what he needed, more smells.

"Oh! Yes! I got this idea from human anesthetics. It should reduce-" she started to explain, but Natsume overrode her.

"Will it get rid of their goddamned stink?" he asked harshly.

Nonoko gave a little frightened squeak at his aggressive tone and nodded frantically. Yuu, her mate, instinctively rushed over to support her giving Natsume a hurt look. If the green was a stronger dragon he might have snarled at Natsume for frightening his mate.

Natsume wouldn't and couldn't apologize, it would undermine his authority. However he did not mean to frighten her either. He raked his fingers through his hair. "Just tell me how to use it." he growled quietly. He turned to look at Mikan who gave him an unreadable look. He tried to test out the strange empathy they shared and even it was somehow clouded and unreadable. All he could pick up from her were tiny flickers that suggested that she was slightly impressed with him.

It turned out Nonoko's creation was used just like breath spray and it thankfully it dulled his sense of smell so he could last more than ten minutes. Imai in turn pinned small tracking chips to all of them so no one would get lost, and they split up into small groups. Natsume was completely inflexible about Mikan being with him this time. Others looked like they wanted to invite her to join them, but he glared them all down scaring them all off. This was supposed to be his date and they could just back off. In the end he was left with Mikan and Youichi who apparently wasn't as afraid of Natsume as the others were.

It was just as well there was only the two of them, because they dragged him all over the place not missing even one food stand or game.

~*~

* * *

Deep in the shadows of an alleyway a pair stood completely unnoticed by all of the people around them. They wore dark clothes with hats and large sunglasses. If someone saw them they might think that they looked very suspicious, but then their minds would relax and they would forget that they ever saw anything. Indeed, they might even look back at the alley, but their eyes would just slide over the shadows and not notice anything important.

The living shadows watched the trio of dragons exploring every stand and cart in the festival. "Is that her?" the shorter one asked, tempted to lick his lips while looking at the sea dragon. She was so tasty looking his mouth started watering.

"It looks like it." The other one said coldly "We are going to have to get her away from the red though. I don't like this. He never said anything about her having a red chaperone."

"Stop worrying. It does not look like he is actually guarding her so there will be an opportunity. We just have to wait."

"I would rather wait until nightfall. I don't like this being out in the day. It's not right. None of this feels right. He has no right to order us around like this." The taller one said in an agitated tone.

"Will you quit your whining? You are the worst excuse for a vampire I have ever met."

The taller one stiffened at the insult "Reo-" he began but was cut off.

"Relax will you. Go get the others and have them ready to go on my signal."

~*~

* * *

Oh gods when will this torture end? How can one woman have so much energy and stay hyper for hours? Youichi he could understand, he was a kid and children generally had more energy but Mikan could probably power a small country.

Natsume supposed he could have handled that alone, but almost everyone was staring at them and taking pictures. He did not like being the center of attention. It wasn't that they were the only ones wearing traditional clothes; it was just that theirs was far more formal. He should have just put his foot down and told everyone they had to wear casual inconspicuous clothing.

He hung back a bit while Mikan and Youichi bought themselves some cold drinks. He was about to rejoin them when his keen hearing picked up the conversation coming from a group of teenage boys next to him.

"Check it out." One boy said.

"What? Where?" asked a second one.

"Over there, the one in the fancy blue kimono." Said the first one and Natsume felt his hackles rise. There was only one woman wearing a fancy blue anything near them and that was Mikan.

"Whoa, nice, real nice." The second one concurred. "You think she has a boyfriend?"

"Forget it dude, I have first dibs on her."

"There is a kid with her. You think it's hers?" a third one piped up. "Maybe she is married."

"If a man lets a wife like that out on her own, he deserves to lose her. Now, sit back and watch the master work."

The kid broke away from his friends and moved towards Mikan. That was when Natsume started to follow him. Unfortunately he couldn't roast the kid because it would attract way too much attention. What he did to was charge past the kid deliberately nudging the boy with his shoulder hard enough to send him to the ground.

"Hey!" the boy protested until he caught sight of Natsume's expression and almost swallowed his tongue.

Natsume joined up with Mikan and Youichi before turning and giving the remaining boys a harsh glare. Instincts that were bread into them long before man ever walked on two legs told them they were in the presence of a dominant predator and they suddenly had the collective urge to be somewhere else far away.

Mikan was looking the other way at the time and missed seeing Natsume terrorizing the teens. She may not have seen it, but she must have picked up on his mood because she gave him a strange look "What is wrong?"

"Nothing." He muttered scanning the crowd. His mind naturally ignored the girls and women that were staring at him and giggling. They were unimportant. What was important was the rather alarming number of men looking Mikan's way. With every masculine pair of eyes pointing in her direction his anger rose up one more point.

_Mine, mine, mine! _His dragon side growled and snarled restlessly inside him. How dare these lowly creatures infringe on his territory! He would bring this whole festival down in flames if they didn't start minding where their eyes wandered. A less than human growl was fighting its way up his throat but Mikan choked it off rather effectively by looping her arm around his. The contact cut off his growl, but the smile she beamed at him froze most of his brain functions.

"I don't know what you are growling at, but stop it." She hissed at him through her smile. "You are starting to scare people."

At that point Youichi came over and started tugging on Mikan's sleeve "Mikan-nee." He said.

"What is it Youichi?"

The little silver didn't answer right away. Instead he pointed over to games booth. "Can we do that?"

Mikan looked at the booth. "Goldfish fishing? Oh wait I've heard about this before!" she said excitedly and the pair took off towards the game. Natsume rolled his eyes at the pair and reluctantly followed them.

When he got to the stand he saw Mikan leaning over the tub smiling sweetly at all of the fish. That did not really surprise Natsume; Mikan struck him as the type who would smile at the tub full of fish. What did surprise him was that all of the fish in the tub had swum over to look at her. Hundreds of bright orange fish bodies mixed with the occasional black ones were all jockeying for a position closest to her.

Curious, Natsume gently nudged her causing her to sidestep a bit, and he watched in fascination as the clump of little fishes no bigger than his little finger, all moved over with her. The brainless little creatures were all pushing and shoving each other against the rim of the tub where she was standing. They were completely ignoring that there were children currently engaged in the game trying to catch them.

Mikan smiled at them and her hand reached out as if to touch the water. By now the little fishes were almost in a frenzy to be the one that she touched. Her hand was barely a finger's width away from the water when it was harshly slapped away by the vendor. Shocked Mikan jerked back in alarm and started rubbing the spot on her hand that the man slapped. Natsume was back to snarling again.

"No touching the water!" the vendor yelled at her.

"Oh, sorry. Um… the boy and I would like to play." She said timidly. Mikan started to reach for her wallet but Natsume stopped her by slapping some money down for her. The vendor greedily reached out to retrieve the money but Natsume grabbed the man's wrist as soon as he made contact with it. The man tried to break free but Natsume's grip was abnormally strong. If he squeezed anymore he would probably break the fool's wrist. Viciously he yanked the man closer and murmured quietly to him.

"If you ever touch her again I'll tear your arm off and beat you to death with it." The stand vendor turned pale and started shaking and sweating. Natsume let go of the man so he could give Mikan and Youichi their bowls and paper nets. The red was quite amused by how careful the man was in avoiding any contact with the sea dragon.

It turned out that Mikan did not really need Natsume's help. She had her own way of inflicting revenge. The fish in the tub were all but jumping into her and Youichi's bowls. It was kind of bizarre the way she was scooping four or five at a time when others could barely catch one. By the time her paper net was all soggy and ready to break, there were dozens of them all crowded in her small plastic bowl with barely enough room to breathe and more were still hoping to be caught.

During her last scoop Natsume clearly saw her paper net break as it hit the water, yet somehow –though not so miraculously- the water still jumped into her dish along with a handful of fish. The vendor looked like he wanted to complain, but then he would shoot a nervous look at Natsume and stayed silent.

Natsume leaned over so his mouth was right against her ear. "Cheater." He whispered and was rather pleased with the small tremor that ran through her body from his close proximity. She turned and gave him a look.

"What?" she asked trying to look innocent. Hotaru was right, she was a terrible liar.

"Bad little sushi roll abusing your power."

"It was just the one time and he deserved it." She muttered with an adorable pout. "Besides it is not my fault they like me."

"Recognize you as another fish, do they?" he said in a teasing tone that she clearly didn't appreciate.

After taking a significant chunk of the stand's fish supply, they moved on to explore the rest of the festival. The best part about that was that Mikan would occasionally put her arm through his. That is, until she realized what she was doing and stopped for a while. Natsume liked to believe that despite her protests, some part of her wanted to be with him.

His brother and sister caught up to him at one point and they pulled him aside. "How is your date going Natsume?" Aoi asked with a sly look.

Natsume didn't answer at first. Instead he pushed a handful of bags filled with useless trinkets and souvenirs at Luka to carry. Luka accepted the bag with a grunt. "It's heavy! What did she buy?"

Natsume snorted at them. "The better question is what didn't she buy. She insists on stopping at every stand, stall, cart and shop she sees."

Aoi giggled _I'm sure it wasn't that bad._ Aoi sent to him mentally causing him to arch one jet black eyebrow at her.

_Not that bad? She went to a dango stand because she had never tried them before._

_What is wrong with that?_ Luka asked.

_Not even an hour later she went to another stand because she wondered if that one tasted any better or worse than the one before! She wasn't even hungry!_ He said, his mental tone filled with exasperation.

From anyone who was passing by it would have appeared that Aoi and Luka had just begun laughing out loud for no reason.

"It is not that funny." He muttered. "Her mind is completely chaotic." He would bite his own tongue off before he admitted that he found her enthusiasm cute.

The trio chatted for a few minutes and Natsume showed his brother and sister the haul of fish Mikan had which they were suitably impressed by. While they were talking, Youichi came up to them and tugged on Natsume's sleeve to get his attention. "Natsume-nii, where did Onee-chan go?"

Natsume gave him a surprised look then whirled around to find that Mikan was nowhere in sight.

"Where is she?" he yelled to no one in particular, his eyes scanning the crowd for any trace of her.

"Maybe she went to find a restroom?" Aoi suggested.

No. Something was wrong. He could feel it. He couldn't quite explain it, but he was sure she was in trouble. He let out a string of curses that surprised both of his siblings. Not bothering to wait for them, he strode off to where he saw her last. Damn he wished he had not dulled his sense of smell!

His nose could pick up faint traces of her scent, but he could not tell which way she went. He was about to let out another growl or string of curses when his nose picked up a faint, but very identifiable smell. There was only one creature that smelled like death and blood without stench of decay.

_Oh no. It can't be. What are they doing here during the day?_ Luka and Aoi had finally caught up to him and he saw them both register recognition.

"Is that what I think it is?" Luka asked, looking alarmed.

Natsume nodded, "Vampire, out during the day. Call the others and tell them Mikan is missing and that we have some bloodsuckers around." He ordered while pulling out his cell phone and activating the tracker that was pinned to the sea dragon.

There were dozens of vampire-type monsters or human looking monsters that needed to feed off of humans. Incubus, succubus, snow women, doppelgangers, all of them were magical creatures that needed to feed from humans in order to stay alive. Most of them did not need to kill their victims to survive and those that did would choose their victims carefully to avoid attention. If a hardened criminal suddenly died or a terminally ill patient passed away very few would bother to question it. There was however, one vampire type, the ones that called themselves 'true vampires' that did not hold to such moral code.

True vampires were undead that were kept animated with the darkest of magic. The only way to keep the magic going and stay alive was by stealing the blood and the life of humans. No animal or blood bank substitutions would ever work. The magic needed live human sacrifice only. They either embraced their killer instinct or they died, simple as that. There was one exception to that rule. Vampires could take the blood of a supernatural creature provided it was in a human form. Blood from a magical creature would not only sustain them, it would make them stronger.

There were two things that really troubled Natsume. The magic that animated vampires was weak in daylight therefore what were these vamps were doing out when most of their strength would not return until sunset? The other thing that was bothering him was that he was certain that wherever Mikan was, so were the vampires. He had no way of proving it, but he was sure nonetheless. _If I see so much as a paper cut on her, I'll turn them to a pile of ash. _

With the tracker, it took almost no time to find Mikan and when he did he was not happy. He found her in an alley with five vampires surrounding her in a tight ring. The shadows of the afternoon had chased away all the sunlight allowing them to move about with confidence. The red was tempted to barge in and torch them all, but he did not want to accidentally hurt Mikan.

Natsume hid back around the corner and peeked around to keep the alley in view. He took a couple of deep breaths forcing his nerves and his pounding heart to calm down. He was born and bred for this. He was a trained assassin and mercenary. He could handle this. All he had to do is keep himself hidden and wait for an opportunity. The red reached inside himself to pull out the calm, clinical part of him that he used when he did missions but was surprised to find that part of him missing. For some reason he couldn't completely slow his racing heart and he couldn't let go of the strange anxiety he felt or the adrenaline that was pulsing through his veins. It took him a moment to recognize that he was worried. Unlike all of those missions where he didn't really care if he came back or not, this time the outcome mattered to him.

"Please, you don't want to do this." He heard Mikan tell them with a quavering voice. She sounded so terrified to Natsume it evoked a response he would not have thought possible a few days ago.

Deep inside of him, where his other self stayed hidden, his dragon was no longer simply agitated and growling. Now it was thrashing and roaring inside of him threatening to break free of his control.

"Oh don't worry sweetheart," an auburn haired vampire told her with a slick smile "we just want to take you to meet a friend of ours."

"Reo. Stop playing and let's get her out of here." A taller sandy haired vampire said to the first one.

"You don't know what you are doing." Mikan told them looking close to tears. Natsume was trying to gauge how many vamps he could take down in one shot without hurting Mikan when the auburn haired vampire did… something strange.

"Just relax. Everything will be fine. You are just going to meet an old friend." Reo said, and even from his position at the end of the alley Natsume could feel the hypnotic pull of his voice and the magic behind it.

His dragon side was fairly resistant to many types of magic and was still roaring at him to fight it, but his human side was having troubles thinking clearly. _Yes, just relax_ a voice echoed in his head _Mikan is fine__. No! __She will be perfectly fine. She is just going to visit an old friend._ _She is not!_ His hand shook and curled into a fist, but the rest of him was beyond his control.

The brief internal battle was broken when something hit him in the back of his head. For a few moments he just stood where he was little dazed and disoriented. Shaking his head a bit to clear the fog from it, he turned to see Imai pointing that strange gun of hers with something that he guessed to be a silencer on the end of it. Most of the others were there with her and the events of the past few minutes came crashing back to him. He nodded grimly at them in thanks and greeting then turned back to the alley.

The vampires had started to move in on her and Mikan was trembling where she stood. She may not be much of a fighter, but he could see the internal struggle written all over her face. Natsume assumed her struggle was because she was trying her best to break the hypnotic spell the vampire had on her. Something twisted in his gut while he watched her try to put on a brave face when he could feel the fear in her. He was going to make them suffer for frightening her so badly.

"P-please." She stuttered causing the vampires to look at her with surprise.

"Reo, she is breaking your hold." The tall vampire said, and Reo made an irritated sound in his throat.

"It must be the daylight. It is weakening by hold." The auburn vampire said.

Natsume felt a small surge of pride towards his sea dragon._ Mikan must be fighting with everything she has because even I could feel his hold._

"Please." She said again "Don't make me do this." She whispered desperately and a lone tear escaped her large expressive eyes to roll quietly down her cheek.

The sight of her crying caused something in him to snap and his dragon surged forth to push against the barrier that separated human and dragon sides. Acting almost completely on instinct, he called the fire from his hands and shot it out incinerating the three that had remained silent and would now forever stay silent.

The two remaining, Reo and the tall sandy haired vampire saw they were not alone and took hold on either side of Mikan.

Natsume was about to charge them when Reo extended his fangs and leaned in close to Mikan's neck.

"I would be more careful if I were you lizard boy." Reo warned him causing Natsume to halt and glare daggers at him.

"Let her go and I'll give you a five second head start." He told them. At the same time, the taller vampire had his own thoughts of letting Mikan go.

"Let's just ditch the girl Reo, it is not worth it."

Reo snarled at him "Idiot! Do you actually think we can show up without her? I just need a bit more power." Reo said and leaned into Mikan's neck causing several people spoke at once.

"Are you crazy? He said she needed to be untouched!" The sandy haired vampire yelled.

"If even one of those fangs touches her, you will die where you stand." Natsume threatened. His brother and a few others took up an aggressive stance behind him.

"Interesting. Koko, tell me if you can read from their minds." Hotaru ordered Koko.

Underneath all of the chatter no one but Reo heard Mikan whisper "I'm sorry." She choked out in a sob as the auburn vampire's fangs broke her smooth skin.

Several of Natsume's group and the tall sandy haired vampire all made various shocked sounds, while Natsume roared out "You're dead!" In a voice so deep and raspy it was no longer human sounding. The group was so caught up in the shock of seeing Mikan being bitten that they didn't notice that Reo was not feeding from her for several seconds.

It wasn't until he pulled his mouth away from her and looked at her in alarm that they all realized something was wrong.

"What are you?" he demanded. "What are you doing to me?" he asked staggering a few steps away from her. The rest of them were too shocked to react at first. What could possibly be happening that would make the vampire more afraid of the girl than of being burned to ash?

"I'm sorry." Mikan sobbed again "I tried to tell you." and right before their eyes they all watched as the vampire shriveled up and decayed like an ordinary corpse except in super fast forward. In the space of about four seconds, what was left of Reo crumbled and turned to dust.

The sandy haired vampire took a half a step back from Mikan and looked at her in horror. The dragons couldn't help but stare as well.

What the hell could do that to a vampire?

Tbc

~*~

* * *

Again with the long chapters! You know I was hoping to get the whole date in one chapter but it is just too long. Even at this point right here I'm almost at 7000 words for one chapter. God, I have a tendency to ramble.

Anyway, some of you have been asking questions (which I love to see) so I'm going to have a small Q&A time right now for some of the more popular ones

Q: Why do you like questions so much?

AH: I love questions because it lets me know if I am not explaining something well enough. It also lets me know if people are picking up little clues and tidbits I hide in the story.

Q: You hide stuff in your stories?

AH: Sort of. I have this story pretty well mapped out in my head as to how I want it to go right up to the ending. I might make a brief reference to something in chapter two that I won't full explain until chapter fifteen. For those of you who like to guess ahead, there are clues there for you. Just don't expect me to confirm or deny if your guess is right.

Q: Okay, how about a hint. What was the deal with Mikan and her family and talking to the ocean and stuff?

AH: Wow, too big a question. I will say that Mikan did not come to Japan accidentally. She is there for a reason and her family is not pleased that she went there.

Q: Ohhh is she in trouble?

AH: ..... Don't even go there.

Q: Right so is there going to be lots of steamy, hot lemon scenes?

AH: NO.

Q: What? Then why did you make it M rated?

AH: I'll explain better. Graphic sex scenes are strictly prohibited on this site. Don't believe me? Re-read the rules. You can have love scenes (which I will have), you can imply sex (which I will do) you can even use euphemisms and metaphors (which I will be definitely be doing). You can go right up until you say 'he put his xxxx in/on her xxxx' then your story can be deleted and you get a warning not to do it again or they will delete your account. Unlike most authors, I have received my warning and lost a story already. If you guys want to see to the end of this story there will be no lemons.

Q: Darn it

AH: I'll try and be entertaining without it.

Q: How about the book that you based the dragons on, Destiny Kills by **Keri Arthur**. Would you recommend it?

AH: You know I would but that might seem a little self serving so I'll have the wonderful_** babe-angel **_who is the only other person I know who has read it. So take it away babe-angel!

Q: Alright. What do you think of the book and would you recommend it?

BA: I really enjoyed the book and I would recommend it to anyone that likes mythical creatures and hot and steamy stories :)

AH: See? Go there for lemons she won't get her account deleted.

Q: Ahem, right. Is there any age group that should/should-not read it?

BA: It is an adult story for a reason. So let's just say you should be mature enough and it's not meant for young children :P It is rated R

AH: I don't find the love scenes too graphic. They are hot, but not crude or vulgar. Actually I quite like the wording she uses.

Q: Last and most importantly, how close is the book and its dragons to "A Dragon's Heart"?

BA: Well the beginning was close. The descriptions of the dragons etc was pretty much what it is. But other than that, 'A Dragon's Heart' is its own story with its own story line.

AH: This is very true. This is not a copy of the book with GA characters filled in. I really loved the idea of air and sea dragons hiding among humans in plain sight. It was so easy to see Natsume as a dragon that I wondered why no one had done it before (at least to my knowledge). There are features about my dragons that are not in the book but that is because the book does not cover every little detail about dragons that I needed for my story. More than once I've had to fill in the gaps on my own. Secretly, I wonder how different my dragons and hers will be when she finishes her series (she is working on book 2) and I my story.

Q: One question about the pairings. With the exception of Natsume/Mikan the pairings are certainly not popular. What made you choose them? And what the heck was with that scene with Hotaru and Hayate?

AH: I will tell you truthfully, I have been dying to make that scene with Hotaru and Hayate since before the first word was written. I believe it was the part of Mikan's birthday in the manga that gave me the idea. On Hotaru's suggestion all of the kids pretend that they have forgotten Mikan's birthday and there is a part where she says something like 'doesn't she look so cute when she (Mikan) is miserable?' I thought 'wow is she a sadist' and then I thought about the difficulty she has expressing affection, and from there the idea of her being a dominatrix would not go away. If there is anyone who I've seen that would express affection through pain it would be Hotaru. And if there is anyone who would accept that pain it would be Hayate.

Q: Not Luka?

AH: No not Luka. Far too many people mistake his kind nature for weakness. Luka is a strong and loyal person who is attracted to sweet cheerful girls like Mikan. Or if not Mikan, Aoi. I pair up characters that I think have potential chemistry.

Q: Last one. You have been trying to add a lot of GA characters. How many more do you plan to add?

AH: Lots. I'm trying to challenge myself to find slots for most if not all of them. The toughest one by far is Bear. Do you have any idea how hard it is to cast and animated teddy bear? You think it sounds easy and then you are like 'He is a freaking bear! What the heck am I going to do with a violent teddy bear!' I'll try my best to fit him in though.

Any other questions? Feel free to ask.


	14. Chapter 14

Hello! I hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day and/or Chinese New Year! Thank you again to all of you who sent reviews and questions, I did try to answer them all. Once again, I apologize for the un-betaed quality of this chapter.

I'm going to apologize to any Edward Cullen fans out there. I'm going to ruin the nice friendly vampire concept. Or rather I'm going back to the classic original vampire concept before Anne Rice novels, the Buffy TV series and Twilight.

A Dragon's Heart – Chapter 14

On the edge of his awareness Natsume heard Imai asking Koko if he could read Mikan's mind. He vaguely heard Koko answer no, but at the time he had more pressing matters to focus on. Like how he was going to shoot his fire so it would loop around Mikan and get the last of the bloodsuckers. No matter which way he looked, it was impossible. Fire was a wild and unruly element to control; it naturally resisted tight controlled movements.

It wasn't until he Imai stepped forward and spoke to him that his attention wavered. "I understand now. Natsume, torch straight through her. Yuu, cover the alleyway with an illusion."

"I can't without hitting Mikan." He told her; annoyed that she was distracting him by making him state the obvious.

"Trust me." She insisted.

"Even I don't have that kind of control over my fire." What the heck was the inventor thinking? Did she have some reason to think the situation was not what it appeared to be? It could not be an illusion, because he could feel the bond he shared with Mikan and it was telling him he was looking at the real Mikan. The sea dragon's emotions were so volatile right now that it was hard to keep them from affecting him.

Hotaru gave him an annoyed look then called to her mate. "Hayate, burn them."

Without question the young black dragon did as his mate ordered. A long arc of fire, similar to the discharge of a flamethrower, shot out at the sea dragon and the remaining vampire. Natsume felt his breath and heartbeat seize up and the bottom of his stomach dropped out.

Objectively, the shot was far weaker than anything Natsume could have done, but it was still enough to cause serious damage. No matter how fast he was, there was no way he could stop Hayate's shot before the flames touched Mikan. As it was, he was frozen to the spot and he watched in horror as the only woman he had ever truly been attracted to was about to be burned alive.

And then something freaky beyond words happened.

Hayate's fire… just… fizzled out. It just shut off like a switch had been flipped or a balloon popped.

_What the hell just happened?_ He didn't need to look behind him to know that the rest of his group was equally dumbfounded.

"I thought so." Imai said smugly, and Natsume was tempted to strangle her. Oh the inventor was in so much trouble when they got home. He would make sure Sakurano cut her allowance off for the rest of the month.

"What just happened?" he asked cautiously. With the exception of Mikan looking and feeling very upset, she looked perfectly fine. There were not even scorch marks on her kimono.

"Just trust me and take care of the vampire trying to get away. Don't worry, Mikan will be fine." Hotaru told him.

Still unsure about using his fire anywhere near Mikan, Natsume shot a small fireball at her. Again the fire disappeared when it touched her. He was still puzzled about what happened to his fire, but he was reassured enough to send out a long flame throwing arc in her direction.

The stream was still connected to his fingertips when he felt whatever it was that she was doing to it. If he thought watching it was freaky, feeling it was weirder. His power just somehow stopped when it went near her. It didn't feel like it was being sucked out of him or anything like that. It was just this void, an empty pocket where magic just did not exist. _What the hell is she?_

Still needing to get the final vamp, he tried increasing the intensity. When he was about three quarters of the way to his full intensity the flames were large enough to start reaching around her to the vampire who had been using her as a shield. Once the vampire realized his shield was no longer useful, he got desperate and tried running. A foolish decision on the vampire's part because once he was away from Mikan, Natsume let his anger take control to incinerate the undead creature in seconds. It was almost over too quickly for the red to feel satisfied. Calling his flames back, he surveyed the strange transformation to the alley.

With the last of the vampires gone, all that was left in the alley was a horribly traumatized and miserable looking Mikan. The ground, the walls, the trash bins, were all charred black with the exception of a small, tight, unmarred bubble around Mikan.

Questions were flooding Natsume's mind but he pushed them aside for the moment and hurried over to her, enveloping her in a protective hug. The contact still sent his insides churning, but his worry and adrenaline was riding high enough to dull its effect on him. Right now he was just relieved she was alive. He held her tight against his body with his face pressed into her hair so he could take deep inhalations of her scent. He held her until the tremors in her body went away. Even after that he continued to hold on to her. He would never admit it, even to himself, but he needed the contact as much as she did. He needed to reassure himself that she was real, still alive and with him.

He didn't know how much time passed before they were both able to calm down enough to think clearly. It could have been half an hour or it could have been a few hours. He had sent most of the others back out into the festival to check for anymore mystical creatures that looked to be doing something more than enjoying the festival.

"Do you want to tell me what happened? Why were they looking for you?" He asked Mikan once she had calmed down.

"I don't know why. I don't know anyone in Japan so I don't know why they came after me." From anyone else, he would have doubted them but he could just feel that she was telling the truth. The vampires' interest in her was just as much of a mystery to her as it was to them.

"Perhaps whoever sent them knew of your little secret." Imai said coldly, causing Mikan to stiffen in his arms.

"Why on earth would they care about that?" she asked. Natsume was rather keen to notice she did not deny having a secret.

"In the right hands it can be a very useful tool." Mikan made a disgusted snorting noise that Imai chose to ignore "You were not very truthful with me or my brother. You said that magic does not work properly around you, but that is not the truth at all."

Through the strange bond he had with her, Natsume felt something in Mikan close up. He felt a wave of shame and revulsion but it was not directed at the vampires or anyone in his group. It felt, oddly enough, aimed back at herself. It was like a solid wall around her. She was usually so fresh and open that it caught him off guard to feel those things coming from her. More importantly, it was starting to piss him off. It made him wish there were more vampires left to turn to a blackened spots on the ground. If Imai was hoping Mikan was going to say anything, she would have a long wait with the way the sea dragon was right now.

Hotaru must have come to the same conclusion because she continued to explain her theory "Magic does not work at all around you, does it?" She finished, and he felt Mikan cringe and try to wriggle out of his hold.

Natsume felt his eyebrows shoot up and his jaw threaten to drop. It was obvious there was something odd about her, but he had never heard of anyone that could just cancel out magic. All the questions he had put on the back burner of his mind along with a few dozen new ones all clamored to leave his mouth at once. They must have all got stuck together because the only thing he could say was "How?"

"Let me go I don't want to talk about it." Mikan ordered. Her head was down and her bangs were covering her face so he could not see her expression, but he could still feel her misery and self loathing. Mikan pushed hard at his arms to get away from him but he had no intention of letting her go. Instead, he tightened his embrace and stroked her soft hair. He still didn't clearly understand what was happening, but the one thing he was clear on was that he hated how it affected her.

"Come on," he said quietly against her temple, "let's go find somewhere quiet to sit down." He eased up on his embrace, but he did not completely let go of her. What he did do was adjust their arms so it looked like hers was looped through his. If someone were to look closer though, they would notice that he had a very gentle but solid grip on her wrist keeping her from getting away.

They moved their conversation to a small café, sitting in a far corner away from the other patrons. They had ordered some tea to calm their nerves, but no one was actually drinking.

"Someone tell me what is going on." Natsume commanded. There was Mikan sitting next to him, looking like she had been struck mute, Youichi was next to her, trying to offer his own comfort by holding her other hand. Hotaru and Hayate were across from him with Aoi and Luka on his other side.

"I think I have got most of it worked out, but it would be better if out guest explained." Hotaru started. They all took quick glimpses over at her, but it was clear she had no plans to say anything.

Imai gave Mikan a slightly peeved look for making her explain but began to anyway. "My brother and I both found his inability to heal her odd. She was drugged, but that should not have affected his ability to heal her. The only time he was successful was when she was fully aware of his actions. Then there was the magical seal on my door. I have never seen anyone manage to break that kind of seal, yet she walked through as if it were a normal door."

Natsume felt Mikan start to fidget, and reflexively he placed his hand over hers. He was not sure if he was trying to offer comfort, or keep her from bolting. A bit of both probably.

"And then of course there is the vampire."

At this point Luka spoke up "What exactly happened to that vampire anyway? I have never seen anything like that before." Aoi nodded beside him and had her nose wrinkled in disgust.

By now Natsume had started to piece together a few images and was starting to come up with a clearer picture. "Vampires are different from vampire-types in that they were not born as supernatural creatures. When you strip away all of the myths and glamour, all they really are is corpses animated and kept in stasis by dark magic. Without a constant blood sacrifice to keep the magic going, they will revert back to corpses." He explained for them.

The red might have made it sound easy, but what he was leaving out was that it was extremely high level dark magic. Certainly not something your garden variety magic user could cook up. Rumor had it that the first vampire was an extremely powerful mage that was dabbling in forbidden magic in a quest for immortality. He found it, but at the cost of his soul and a human life every few days for the rest of eternity.

Natsume turned and directed his next thought towards Mikan in hopes that she could clear something up. "What I don't get is how you were able to completely revert such an obviously old vampire. If I was able to overpower your cancellation, surely a vampire who is old enough to be dust in his un-sustained form would be too."

Mikan turned and gave him a sullen look for trying to make her talk about something she did not want to discuss. "It was probably because it was daytime and he tried to take my blood." She told him in a quiet bitter voice. Natsume felt guilty for upsetting her further, but it was clear that her unusual ability could cause further problems. It would be better if they were prepared for it.

He gave her as close to an apologetic look as he had ever given anyone while silently urging her to continue. She returned his look with a nasty look of her own then rolled her eyes in defeat. "He bit me, which means at least one or two drops of my blood would have gotten in his mouth. Unlike normal dragons, my blood seems to work in reverse. Instead of giving them more power it takes it away. He might have survived if it was night and he was at his full power."

Hotaru broke in to their conversation "How strong is this ability? Is it strong enough to revert a dragon to human form?"

Mikan shook her head "No dragons are too strong. Occasionally there have been weaker dragons who have had trouble transforming around me, but that was it." She said sullenly.

Natsume rubbed his thumb in small circles along the back of her hand in a soothing gesture. The others could not see it, but for some reason this was very hard on her "Are you sure you don't know who they were? Like Imai said, in the right hands that could be a formidable weapon."

Mikan jumped out of her seat and wrenched her hand out of his grip. "Is that your idea of a joke?" she hissed at him. Then when she noticed that she had caught the attention of the other people in the café, she sat reluctantly back down.

"Do you think I like being a freak among my own kind? Do you have any idea what it is like growing up as the only non-human kid in a school of hundreds? Can you even guess what it is like to be happy to meet another mystical being of any kind just because you are glad to have something in common with them? Now just try for a minute to picture that person hating you more than any other creature in fifty square miles because you are the one thing that threatens their mystical existence!" She was trying to whisper but her voice was developing more and more of a hysterical edge tainted with what was probably years of bitterness.

"Formidable weapon my ass, no one looks at me and wonders how useful I can be. They only see how I can be used against them." Those lovely expressive eyes started welling up and spilling tears out again, and once again Natsume felt compelled to pull her into his arms. Instead, he gave her his handkerchief and the others the tiniest head nod to signal that they should leave. Thankfully, Aoi and Luka took Youichi with them leaving him perfectly alone with Mikan. He was still very conscious of them being in a public place so he couldn't exactly pull her into his lap. The only thing he could do was loop one arm around her and let her lean on his shoulder until she calmed down.

For the first time since meeting her he did not have the overwhelming urge to throw her down on the nearest flat surface and have his way with her. Right now all he wanted was to see the cute smile she had been flashing all morning. After a while her little sniffles and hiccuping sounds faded away and he ventured to speak.

"Are you feeling better now?"

She nodded and pulled away, but refused to look him in the eye. "I'm sorry I should not have flipped out like that." She mumbled. She still refused to look at him so all he could do was look at her red splotchy face and nose.

"Hn." Was all that came out of him. _Come on Natsume, think of something nice to say. _He thought to himself, wracking his brain. He was painfully aware that with the exception of Imai, he was probably the least sensitive person in the entire festival, but surely he could come up with something. It was true that things like sensitivity, charm and good manners ranked about a fifty in the top ten most important skills for a dragon leader, but his mother, sister and brother were all kind people so surely there was some part of his DNA or upbringing that was decent.

He floundered for a few more minutes until it occurred to him to tell her she looks much prettier when she smiles. Yeah that was a good one, it sounded a bit corny, _just wing it and try and make it sound nice,_ he told himself.

"You don't have a face that looks good when you cry." Shit. That came out all wrong. So much for winging it, DNA and upbringing. Mikan gave him an offended look.

"Well I'm sorry for not looking like a supermodel when I cry. Next time I'll try and give you some warning so you can leave find something more attractive to look at." She said waspishly.

"Look what I meant to say was that some people can look good when they cry and you are just not one of them." _Shut up, shut up, shut up! Just stop! You are making it worse!_

"Oh _really_?" she asked and her voice changed an octave on really.

And damn him and his competitive nature that he just could not stop himself from lowering his voice and octave and answering "_Really_."

The two of them sat there for a moment glaring into each other's eyes before she let out something that sounded like a cross between a sigh and a laugh. After that she started to chuckle, and from there it just took off and she started full out laughing. A few of the people in the café were looking at her as if she were unstable. Crying one minute and laughing the next, but he ignored them.

After a while her giggles died down and she gave him one of those beautiful smiles of hers causing his heart rate to speed up. "Thank you Natsume. I needed that."

_I have no idea how that actually worked but I will not question it._ "You… you have a really nice smile... and… for what it is worth, I'm not afraid of your canceling ability." _That really does sound corny._

Mikan's smile faltered a little and then it grew three times bigger and eyes started welling up.

"Thank you Natsume." She leaned forward and gave a far too quick kiss in his opinion "and for the record, it's called it nullification."

Tbc

~*~

Okay just in case some of you need a little clearing up I'll quickly go over the difference between vampire and vampire-type.

Both types are human looking mystical creatures that feed off of humans.

Vampire-types are things like Incubus (male) and succubus (female) that use lust to draw in their prey and drain the life force of their lovers. Snow women are shy reclusive creatures that use snow storms to cause their prey to become lost. Doppelgangers take the form of their prey and drain their life force that way. Hmmm… sound like anyone we know? They are what are sometimes referred to as psychic vampires. They are born this way and feed off life, not blood.

Vampires are undead creatures. They were once live humans, but were granted immortality in death. Like Natsume said, when all the glamour is stripped away, they are a dead body that is kept moving and from rotting by dark magic. The problem with this magic is that it needs a human blood sacrifice to keep the magic working. Partial feeding from volunteers, animal blood, and blood banks do not work. No live human sacrifice, no eternal life.

Until next time!


	15. Chapter 15

Hello again! Thank you for all of the reviews, I love you all! Welcome also to a few new readers, I hope I can continue to keep you all entertained.

A Dragon's Heart – Chapter 15

Mikan was nothing like her cousin Sumire; she had absolutely no skill in flirting. One would think that a reasonably attractive woman of nineteen years would have some understanding of how to attract the opposite sex but they would learn differently if they had met her. She may be a dragon, but she didn't have anywhere near the boldness or sexual self-confidence of her grandmother, aunts, or cousins.

Sumire could stride into a nightclub full of strangers and have ten guys on her in seconds. Fifteen minutes later she would have weeded those men out (and any others that followed) to her choice of the night and be pressed tightly against him on the dance floor. Every second from the moment she walked in straight down to whether or not she left with the man later were completely in her control. Mikan was like the antithesis of that, she always felt out of control and awkward around men.

It wasn't that men had not tried to pick her up before. That was hardly the problem. In school there were several boys that had made efforts to get closer to her, but she had never been able to feel comfortable around human boys. She had made a few feeble attempts at dating when she was younger, but most times she would play ignorant to their advances. Sooner or later most would all get the hint and they would pursue someone else. Her luck was even worse with mystical creatures.

Her first and only crush was a young mage named Kaname who also happened to be Tsubasa's best friend while he was in school. Mikan could still clearly remember following the pair of them around everywhere until Tsubasa was ready to pull his hair out. As a mage, Kaname must have been bothered by Mikan's nullification problem, but he never once made her feel like a freak. He was always kind and sweet to her.

Gods, she didn't know if she should laugh or cringe whenever she remembered her first attempt at confessing to him. It was during her twelfth birthday party and she was getting ready to blow out the candles on her cake. Her grandmother told her to make her wish, at which point she bluntly told everyone at the table that her wish was to spend all day eating her favorite candy howalon with Kaname. How embarrassing.

Her experience with dragons, especially air dragons was the worst. When she was little all they wanted was to be as far away from her as possible, but when she started to develop as a woman things changed. Their interest in her was something out of a nightmare. They would both want her while hating her at the same time. Hate combined with dragon lust would quickly evolve into something monstrous. Their desire to bed her was not only a physical need. It was a means to establish their supreme dominance over her and put her in her place. It was a way for them to show they were stronger than her and not the least bit cowed by her nullification power. She had come frighteningly close to being raped more than once in her early stages of puberty.

Thankfully, her uncles and grandfather quickly picked up on the signs and started keeping closer tabs on her. They took it upon themselves to scare away unwanted pests.

Tsubasa was surely going to kill her when he saw her next. He was the one who had been elected to keep an eye on her during summer break while everyone went to visit Loch Ness in Scotland. Poor Tsubasa, it was a bit unfair of Mikan to use Tsubasa's current situation with Misaki against him. He was trying so hard to court the woman that it was too easy for Mikan to take advantage of his distraction. He was going to strangle her for sure when he saw her.

It also did not help that her family told her in no uncertain terms that she was absolutely not to go to Japan. They were well aware of the unsteady supernatural political atmosphere and refused to go or let her go anywhere near it.

Well, she wasn't a child anymore. She could take care of herself and she had to do this.

She just did not expect someone like Natsume to be here.

He was full of contradictions. He was extremely strong, but she could feel his vulnerability underneath that strength. He was confident while still being so unsure of himself. There were times when he was rude and abrasive while being gentle and sweet at the same time.

There were certainly no contradictions about how attractive he was. Normally men like him were not her type. She preferred fairer men, the handsome, storybook, prince charming type. The kind that was as pretty, if not more pretty, than she was. The dark, brooding, bad-boy stereotype was never really something that interested her, but still she could not deny that he had an effect on her.

And she had an effect on him. She could feel his interest as surely as if he had spoken it out loud and it was getting more and more distracting.

She came to Japan to find out what had happened to the sea dragon families here. More specifically, to find out what had happened to her mother's family. Dozens of sea dragons don't just disappear into nothing and it was only a matter of time before someone from her family showed up to drag her back home. She didn't really have the spare time to be going all starry-eyed over a guy no matter how good-looking he was.

Not that it seemed to be stopping her from doing so. Denying her attraction to him was like trying to deny gravity. She could fight and resist all she wanted, but she was still being pulled in.

And then he went and said he wasn't afraid of her. Gods, that one little statement almost undid her. She had never realized that she had been waiting to hear those words until she heard them and her whole world felt like it tilted on her. Just one little sentence said with complete honesty and she was caught.

It still did not make what she was doing in Japan any less important, but maybe, just for today, maybe she could pretend that she was just a normal girl on a normal date and just enjoy herself.

The pair of them had left the café and had started walking the streets of the festival once again. Mikan had finally given into the urge she had been having all day to loop her arms around one of his and she could tell he liked the contact even if he did not show it.

It was an annoying truth that she lacked any talent for flirting and playing coy so she didn't even try. She probably would not have any other dating opportunities so the last thing she needed was to ruin it by advertising her limited experience with men. By her way of thinking, she might as well relax and just be herself. She might still make a fool of herself, but she was damn well not going to do it while acting like something she was not which she knew would be a sure way to disaster.

Up ahead she spotted Luka and Aoi with Youichi looking every inch the happy family. Mikan was not sure if it was a trick of the early evening light, but there seemed to be a tension between the young lovers. The tension thrummed in discordant harmony to the obviously loving aura around them.

"Natsume?" she called, breaking the moment of comfortable silence between them.

"Hmm?"

"Is there some sort of problem with your brother and sister?" she asked. She was so busy looking at the young couple trying to pin down the odd feeling from them, that she did not even consider if her question was inappropriately nosy or not.

Her date stopped moving and turned to look at her. When she did not return his look, he followed the line of her vision. Natsume said nothing, but she could feel the sadness in him when he looked at the pair.

"Luka is a draman." He said quietly as if that could explain everything. Which it did.

It took Mikan only a moment to process this information. She was well versed in dragon prejudice having experienced it firsthand. "I see." She said sympathetically.

They were a pair of star crossed lovers if she ever saw one. If they wanted to be together they would have to leave Natsume and the clan. Mikan gave Natsume a look and could tell he knew it as well and was suffering for it. If he wanted the couple to be happy he would have to eventually let them go. "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked quietly.

She felt the painful ache and loneliness from him and an ear and a shoulder to cry on were the only things she could think to offer him. Sometimes a wound needed to bleed freely in order to heal better.

The red dragon let out a quiet sigh and began walking in a direction away from most of the crowds.

"My mother was the king's only red offspring. His mate had died shortly after childbirth, and when he took a black dragon as a mistress, she bore him my uncle Serio who is black as well. My grandfather was very proud of our strong lineage, so it was a bit of an insult to only have a red female as his only potential heir."

Mikan nodded to show she was listening, but did not say anything for fear that he would not be able to say what he needed to say.

"The big problem with my mother was that her true mate was a bronze with a kind nature and no political ambitions. Kaitou Hyuuga was everything the king did not want in a son-in-law. So naturally, he had to interfere. He had set up a dragon equivalent to an arranged marriage. Our biological father was a gold dragon from Europe that the king had frequent business dealings with. It was a mating that my mother had no intentions of going through with. One night, she had planned to meet up with Hyuuga and convince him to run away with her when something happened to cause her to black out."

Mikan could feel the ominous foreboding in him and had the feeling that he had his suspicions as to how his mother blacked out that night. She figured if he ever had any proof to support those suspicions, he would be instantly challenging the king. She also noticed that he never mentioned the name of the dragon that sired him.

"She woke up the next morning naked and in bed with the gold." He spat out bitterly and Mikan winced in sympathy. It took a moment for Natsume to continue and when he did, it was with a laugh that had no humor in it.

"According to the rumors, my mother went completely bat-shit crazy when she woke up that morning. She transformed right there in the room, totally demolishing the walls and roof of the house and killing the gold while he was still half asleep in his human form. I, of course came along nine months later." The words were said with such blandness that a normal person might think he didn't care either way about his birth. Because Mikan could feel his energy and emotions stinging her like nettles all over her skin, she knew how much he resented being conceived in such a way.

"About a year after I was born, Luka's mother showed up with Luka in tow looking for him and for some reason, they chose to stay even after they found out he was dead." At this point, Natsume gave her a small, but genuine smile. She wondered if his siblings ever knew how much he loved them.

"Luka and I were almost inseparable from the moment we met. We got into everything together. The only thing that ever came between us was Aoi." At this point his tiny smile turned rueful. "Luka adored her from the moment she was born. He was always trying to include her in whatever we did, while I, being a typical big brother, did not want her anywhere near us to slow us down. We got into a few fights over her until he hit about thirteen when he started to act differently around her."

Yeah, Mikan could just guess what happened. It sounded very much like the way she was with Tsubasa and Kaname. She could just imagine a thirteen year old Luka looking at a young Aoi and being confused about his feelings.

"At the time I was distracted, because our mother had passed away the year before, so I did not notice his awkwardness around her at first. In fact I don't think I really clued in to his feelings until I had my first concubine visit at sixteen." He said more to himself than to her.

_Ugh… sixteen huh? I could have lived without knowing that little nugget of information._ She thought testily to herself. It was irrational for her to be annoyed with some faceless woman for having slept with him, but it annoyed her nonetheless. Natsume must have felt something from her because he paused in his gait to look at her. The look he gave her was quite amused, with one eyebrow raised and she couldn't help feeling a little ridiculous and looked away in embarrassment.

"Anyway," he said, and continued walking. "That is the story of Luka and Aoi. They are true mates and have been since we were babies, but as things stand they can't be together."

A true mate. The one you were born to love and would continue to love not only in this life, but past death into the afterlife on the forever plains. It wasn't a myth, she had seen the proof of it herself whenever she looked at her grandparents. According to them, her parents also had that kind of bond as well. What would it be like to wake up next to someone and feel complete and whole? To find the one thing you didn't know was missing in your life?

She flicked a glance at Natsume and looked quickly away. _No Mikan, no. Way wrong time. Way wrong place. A gorgeous hunk of man does not mean true love no matter what Sumire says. _

Natsume and Mikan had been walking aimlessly for a while now and it had gotten dark. She was just about to suggest that they find the others to leave when the night sky lit up. Bright blossoms popped and zinged across the sky causing her to stop where she was and watch with glee.

She had always liked fireworks. There was something about them that always made her happy. They lived such a brief life, but they affected her long after they died. She watched in amazement as sparkles of purple and green mixed with red and gold. She let out a carefree laugh and turned to her date to see what he thought. She was surprised to find he wasn't looking at the light show. He was looking at her and his eyes were filled with a heat that rippled right through her energy causing her to shiver.

Natsume cupped her face with his palms and leaned in to her. His movements were extremely slow, giving her plenty of time to bolt if she wanted to, but at the moment, she was not inclined to leave. The corner of his mouth hitched up a bit when he acknowledged that she wasn't going to run off. She felt a small flare of anticipation from him before his lips pressed against hers.

Oh gods, she had almost been hoping that she had imagined how good a kisser he was. Not that she had anything good to compare it to. There were a few clumsy attempts from human boys but nothing special. Natsume however, was every bit and better than she remembered. It was almost like its own firecracker the way it sent shivering heat down her spine and then blossomed out to the tips of her fingers and toes.

Throwing caution and her mission in Japan to the wind, she looped her arms around his neck and parted her lips in invitation. She tunneled the fingers of one hand through his soft black hair, while the other one hung on to his broad shoulders for support since her knees did not want to work properly.

Natsume felt her enthusiastic response and let out a deep hungry growl into her mouth. His magical energy was mingling with hers causing his lust to invade her senses making her head spin faster. She was completely oblivious to the crowds or the city around her. Her only reality was him and what he was doing to her.

Eventually, Natsume pulled back from her. "Spend the night with me." He whispered. His voice was raspy with lust and Mikan could not tell if he was ordering her or pleading with her.

"I… can't." she told him reluctantly. It was the first time in her life she felt misgivings about rejecting a man. Instantly she felt Natsume's energy pull back from hers and she wanted to protest at the sudden loss, but she didn't.

Natsume leaned his forehead against hers. "You want me. I know you do. And you know I want you, why are you fighting what we both want?" he grated out a bit too harshly. She could almost taste his frustration.

The last thing Mikan wanted to do right then was leave the warmth of his body but she did it anyways. If she didn't, she knew she most likely would have made a very stupid mistake. "I have my reasons." She told him while pulling away. She felt terribly cold away from him, despite the warm summer night.

Before Natsume let her go, he gave her a warning. "This isn't over between us." He told her in a tone heavy with promises and Mikan had a bad feeling he was very right.

tbc

* * *

~*~

Whew! Their date is finally done! It is quite late at night and I hope there aren't too many errors. If there are I am very sorry. The chapter is also bit short and for that I am also sorry. The next chapter will feature Natsume and Mikan in dragon form so I wanted to separate it from their date. I hope it will be a fun change of pace for everyone.


	16. Chapter 16

As always, thank you to everyone who has reviewed. Reading them always puts a bright spot to my day. Welcome to a few new readers and it is good to see those of you who have been here from the beginning. You guys are absolutely the best! I hope this chapter was worth the wait.

* * *

A Dragon's Heart – Chapter 16

Natsume stretched out his wings and fluttered them for a bit before settling them back down to a comfortable position. This was the best he had felt in… well… probably since his mother passed away. It would have been the best ever if Mikan had slept with him last night _but she has her reasons_ he mimicked an annoying falsetto voice in his mind.

If he didn't do something about those '_reasons'_ soon, he was going to lose his mind. Last night after their date, Natsume and most of the other adults were stuck with fun the task of trying to find a home for several dozen goldfish while Mikan took a quick dip in the ocean with Hotaru and Hayate as her guards. On the bus ride home the children had been begging and pleading to be allowed to swim with her, but she had been adamant that it was too late and the water would be too cold for them to swim. They did however manage to get her to agree to go swimming with them in the morning.

Natsume being the obsessed idiot that he was, figured that he would relieve Hotaru once he was done with the stupid goldfish and keep a watch on Mikan himself. Yeah, he may have already been rejected by her tonight, but he was not completely lost to his dragon lust. He could keep his hands to himself for one night. He just wanted to see her.

Yeah right.

He had flown from the take off cliff towards the beach with every intention of landing there when his far-too-keen vision spotted her coming out of the water wearing a one piece swimsuit. The swimsuit was nothing spectacular, one that was meant for function rather than aesthetics, but the woman wearing it was another matter. Maybe he was more sensitive to magic when he was in dragon form, or maybe Mikan's skin had odd reflective properties, but the woman was glowing! Not glowing like the way some people say a happy bride to be or mother to be is glowing, she was well and truly brighter than the air dragons next to her. It was like the moon had wanted all to know who was its favored child and radiated its cool glow through her. Even at a healthy distance he could feel the power of the ocean radiating from her.

At that point Natsume spun on his tail and beat a hasty retreat. He couldn't kid himself any further; there was no way in hell he was going to be able to keep his hands to himself if she looked like that. He fled back to the safety of his room where he took a quick cold shower ranting '_she has her reasons' _over and over. He spent the rest of the night flopping and thrashing endlessly about his bed wondering how long it was going to take to deal with those reasons.

Yes, things were much better this morning. Not really on a hormonal level. That was still very much and issue, but there were also other people and children present to help keep him in check.

And he was enjoying the sun right now.

The others had grabbed inflatable rafts, umbrellas, picnic baskets and whatever else one would take for a day at the beach. Natsume himself had taken advantage of the new security bug cameras Hotaru had made and Yuu's ability to hide him with an illusion if humans did show up. The young red transformed into his dragon form and glided over to the ledge where the old shrine was. He promptly stretched out in a position that would allow him to watch Mikan swimming, while warming his hide with the sun.

If he were a cat right now he would purr. He had almost forgotten life could be like this. His grandfather, his uncle, his work, all of the politics of his clan, all just hid in the back corner of his awareness. He would have to deal with them soon enough, but for now they could bloody well wait. The sun was lulling him into a state of bliss.

If Mikan was a beloved child of the moon, then he belonged to the sun. He could feel it caressing him and infusing him with its power. _Dragons were not meant to spend __**all**__ their time in human form_. He thought lazily to himself. He angled his snout on his foreclaw better so he could watch Mikan in her dragon form playing in the water with the kids.

He wasn't sure what kind of game they were playing; it seemed to involve some sort of ambush attack on her part. The kids would be swimming around trying to figure out where she was, then seemingly out of nowhere, one of them would get mysteriously launched into the air. The child would let out a piercing squeal before safely splash landing back into the water. Mikan's part was obvious, he just wasn't sure if the kids were trying to get launched or get away from it. He couldn't tell with all of the squeals, giggling and laughter. Watching the water-play was cute though.

When the kids started to wear out, she dropped them off onto what Imai called her portable desert island. It looked like a small island with a few trees and rocks, but it could be moved or anchored like a boat. It even had a large hidden storage compartment for food and drinks. Once the children were dropped off, Mikan moved off to swim a bit on her own.

God he liked watching her swim. She really had no idea how sexy she looked coiling and bending in the water. Every now and then she would swim up close to him and they would make eye contact for a few seconds, before she curled herself back and swam the other way. He wondered if he would ever get tired of looking at in her dragon form. He doubted it. The more times she came back to see him, the more tail curled and twitched excitedly.

"You're pathetic." He heard Luka call out to him. His brother and sister were lounging comfortably on their own large raft along with Youichi and two other kids.

Natsume picked up his head and snorted a wisp of smoke at them. _Shut up_. He told Luka mentally, knowing that his brother was having fun with teasing him about a girl for once.

"He he he, Not so funny from the other side is it?" Luka called.

_Easy for you to say, you didn't sleep alone last night._ Natsume responded tartly, causing Luka to blush. Actually, now that he thought about it, maybe his brother could be of some help. The pair of them were almost like twins. They might tease one another, but they had experienced absolutely everything together. If there was anyone who might be able to offer advice it would be him.

_Luka_, he began very seriously and his brother picked up the tone and gave him a serious look in return. _When Aoi was younger, how did you… cope… with not being able to touch her?_ He was so glad he was in his dragon form and that he could communicate to his older brother without saying that out loud. He would probably keel over and die from embarrassment if he had to ask that normally.

"_Not making much progress huh?"_ Luka spoke in his mind ruefully. _"Well I've been there and done that."_ He said with a fond look over at Aoi. _"Maybe she is not interested."_ Luka suggested.

_Oh she's interested, but apparently she 'has her reasons'._ He was beginning to **hate** that phrase. His distaste for it tinged his mental conversation. Suddenly the draman sat up straighter looking worried.

"_You don't think she has a mate do you?"_

Natsume claws flexed involuntarily making deep gouges into the hard stone. _Bloody well better not_ he growled in his mind. He'd roast the bastard on a spit for dinner. No male in his right mind would let a mate like her wander about the globe freely. But then again, the bit of telephone conversation he had overheard suggested she was not supposed to be in Japan. Oh gods, what if she did have a mate? _No, think Natsume, if she had a mate she was serious about she would be with him, not running away._ He told himself silently and apart from his brother. He didn't want Luka to know that he was actually worried about Mikan having a mate.

"_Well, I wish I could give you some great advice, but to tell you the truth, I ended up having to become really well acquainted with my hand at that time."_

Natsume gave him a snort. _I would rather not if I don't have to._ It wasn't that he hadn't done it. Every boy in existence with working equipment has, no matter what they say. He just did not have to do it often because he had other options open to him. He felt like such a juvenile having to resort to it.

_What about the concubines? Did you never seek them out?_

Luka gave him a surprised look. _"When it is the right one, the idea of others just loses all appeal. Once I had come to terms with my feelings, I couldn't even look at a concubine."_ The look Luka gave him suggested he should have realized this by now.

Without wanting to, Natsume recalled the other night when he had briefly mistook Mikan for a concubine. The way he was about to tell her to hit the road even though he was so clearly sexually frustrated. A woman would have solved his problems quite expertly, but he just did not find the idea of stimulating. If anything the idea annoyed him. Even now the idea of having one just felt so… yuck… Natsume looked over to where Mikan was swimming and tried not to think about what that might mean to them. He refused to let the thought fully form, because if what he was afraid to think was true, it would be disastrous for both of them.

A tug on his wing distracted him from his thoughts. He turned to see Youichi pulling at him.

"Natsume, come swimming with us." The little silver ordered while pulling on his wing as if he could ever move a full sized dragon.

Natsume instinctively flexed the wing out of the kid's hands which caused the boy to lose his balance. Afraid that the Youichi might fall badly against the rocky ledge, Natsume quickly extended his wing low, catching the falling body on the thin membrane of his wing like a fishing net. This left the kid sitting on his wing in a rather uncomfortable spot, so he shifted and lowered his wing further off the ledge, allowing Youichi to roll harmlessly back into the ocean.

The little silver dragon landed with a splash and his head popped back up to the surface laughing. "That was great! Do it again!"

Oh lord. No sooner did he say that than the other children wanted to play with him. Natsume rolled his eyes and briefly allowed the children to use his overlarge body as a jungle gym. It went against his 'fearless leader' image, but he could not bring himself to tell them to get lost either. It was not really that bad, most times all he did was use his tail to pluck them off his hide and throw them back into the water. He would manage to get one off, but another one would scramble up and take its place. The children apparently thought it was hilarious.

In a strange way it kind of reminded him of how his stepfather used to play with them as kids. His dad would always make time to play with them when they were little, and memory if it filled him with giddy warmth. Without meaning to, his gaze wandered back to Mikan who was swimming in intricate patterns again. _She better not have a mate. I'd have to strangle her for not saying something sooner._

Mikan swam up and saved him from his jungle gym fate. As soon as they saw her they called her to play with them. This time she gathered them in a group and swam in a tight circle around them, causing a tiny whirlpool that they all seemed to like.

Natsume continued to watch his sea dragon. The only indication that he was enjoying himself was the way his tail tip was whipping back and forth over the rocky ledge which caused it to flick in and out of the water.

Eventually she included him in her play.

She would swim up to him and flick a bit of water his way. Natsume would get annoyed at having cool water splashed on his nice sun warmed hide and would grunt and shoot a small tendril of fire at her much to the amusement of everyone watching them.

They continued this once, twice, a third and fourth time, so when she swam up to him the fifth time he was more than ready to retaliate. Except she did not surface when he expected.

_Where is she? Did she-ey-eh OW! That was my tail dammit!_

She bit his tail.

She bit his freaking tail!

He let out a rather undignified sound that was a deeper, rumbling version of a screech that a cat would make if its tail was stepped on causing everyone to look at him strangely.

He pulled his tail tip up to his snout to look at it. Her sharp teeth did not pierce his tough hide, but it still stung damn it. His tail was sensitive! Just because it was dangling in the water did not mean she had to bite it!

Mikan's large wedge shaped head popped out of the water to look at him and he dangled his poor abused tail tip in front of her. _Look what you did to my tail!_ He ranted at her mentally.

Mikan tilted her head at him. It was hard to read her expression on her dragon face, but he got the impression that she felt contrite for hurting him. She leaned forward towards it and he was tempted to snatch it away lest she bite it again, but that would look cowardly, so he held still, prepared to pull it back if needed.

_If you even think of biting me, I'll boil you where you are._ He threatened mentally, but instead of biting, she licked the injured tip with her tongue.

She licked his tail.

He could feel her tongue with shocking clarity dragging over his sensitive tail tip.

_Oh gods._

The young red's breath clogged in his lungs and his heart rate took off at a frantic gallop. Pleasure tremors began at tail tip and travel all the way up through to the top of his head. They were so intense he was sure they had to be visible to everyone watching. _Oh-oh-ohh-ohhhhh-oooooo…_ gods, was that ever hot, sexy and completely unexpected. He felt like he was going to melt into a pile of goo.

Mikan must have felt a bit embarrassed, because she was starting to retreat into the water again. _Oh no you don't _he thought mentally and moved so his head was extended over the water. She paused in her retreat and extended her snout up to meet his.

Natsume couldn't stop what happened next if his life depended on it. He nuzzled against her blue-green snout in a gesture that is far more affectionate than one would expect a dragon was capable of. Mikan emitted a weird gravely hum from her throat and Natsume responded in kind. Her tail emerged from the water to twine with his and his blissful hum increased in volume. Natsume then shocked himself and everyone else on the beach by giving her muzzle a long affectionate lick.

Once he did it though, the young red pulled back feeling a bit surprised at his bold move. He had never ever witnessed or even heard of dragons flirting or engaging in foreplay in their dragon forms, but he was fairly certain they had just done exactly that. And with others watching no less.

But oh did he like it.

He was relatively oblivious of the others around him until he heard Koko who had paddled up unnoticed; awkwardly break the tension in the air. "Uh, yeeeaah… maybe it's time we head back to the beach for lunch. I don't think the kids need to be around to see this." Rather miraculously, they all disappeared within seconds.

Natsume could not hold back any longer, he transformed and leapt into the water at her. Mikan transformed as well and backed away from him.

The sudden chill of the water should have cooled his ardor but he couldn't even feel it. The only thing that felt real to him was Mikan.

Shit was that swimsuit ugly. She probably did not care what she looked like out of the water since she spent most of her time in it, but he was going to have to buy her a bikini. Make that several, one for every day of the week something to show off her slim athletic figure.

Feeling playful, he continued to chase her while she continued to remain just out of his reach. She let out a silvery laugh mocking his attempts to catch her.

"You do not actually believe you can keep up with a sea dragon in the water do you?" she asked in a sweet voice.

"Come back here you little minx and finish what you started."

Mikan paused and gave him a shocked look "What did I do?" she asked. He took advantage of the moment to surge forward and catch her.

"Just where did you learn that little stunt with the tail?" he asked with a heated grin, trying hard not to think about the possibility that another man had taught it to her.

She gave him a sweet smile "It is kind of a family secret."

Natsume held on to her waist lightly and moved in to brush his lips along the soft skin of her nape. "Nice secret." He breathed against her neck. "Do you have any other secrets you want to share?" he whispered suggestively. He wanted her badly. He was quite convinced he would probably do just about anything if he could have her right now.

He pulled back fully prepared to start begging for whatever it was that would convince her to let him make love to her, and almost drowned in her luminous eyes. Much to his excitement there was more than a little lust and interest there, but then they started to cloud over and her interest slowly faded away leaving nothing but caution in her eyes. _No! Don't you dare pull back from this again!_ His mind screamed and thrashed in denial refusing to accept that he had lost this opportunity.

"Actually," she said, pulling away from him. If she gave him some crap about having reasons right now, he would be forced to do something violent. "We should get out of the water."

He blinked a little in confusion. His hormones had kind of addled his wits. "What?" he asked, a bit confused. He was tempted to make a quip about her wanting to get him out of the water so she could have her way with him, but his temper was riding too high on sexual frustration. Anything that came out of his mouth would probably be rude and acidic.

She gave him a remorseful smile and sighed. "You probably aren't as sensitive to it as I am, but we are currently being influenced."

Again he just blinked at her in confusion and gave her a less that patient look to hurry up and explain what the hell she meant.

Again she sighed "The water misses its sea dragons and is trying to find a way to get them back."

What the hell was that supposed to mean? No one knows what happened to the sea dragons in the area. They just sort of disappeared overnight. And then a thought struck him.

"By getting them back, you mean it wants to make more." He stated having a bad feeling he was right.

Mikan blushed cutely and looked away. "Yes. The problem is that you need at least two dragons to make more."

"So you are saying that what I am feeling is just some sort of glamor or love spell?" The idea that he was under some kind of spell pissed him off and killed a good chunk of his lust with it. Nothing and no one orders him around.

This time she shook her head. "No, water and water spirits do not have that kind of ability. It cannot make you want someone you do not find attractive. At best it can alter the body chemistry, make us more aware of one another, occasionally it can give visions and impressions but that is about it."

"So that thing with the tail does not normally happen?" Shit. He really liked that trick. It was hot as hell.

Mikan blushed even harder "No that was real. I've seen it done before and it almost always results in the pair running off to find somewhere private. What the water can do is take away my inhibitions about doing that in front of people with someone I barely know."

That would explain why he licked her back. "Oh? So does that mean you are trying to drag me off to somewhere more private?" he asked teasingly. Now that he knew the tail trick was real, his mood picked up. He would have to remember to try that when the water was not influencing them.

"No I'm trying to stop us from becoming parents." She said abruptly. "One thing water can do is make you forget to care about whether or not you are ready to be one."

Inside him, the far more primal urges of his dragon stirred. They were not animals, but they were definitely more in tune with their bestial natures because they were dragons. Hunting, fighting for territory, the need for a mate and having offspring were basic urges in them. Those needs were not as buried under religious and moral codes as they were in ordinary humans. For just the tiniest second a thought of Mikan carrying his baby entered his mind. Normally, with concubines, Natsume had been terrified that he might accidentally slip up and sire a child with them, but now his deep inside of him his dragon was rumbling eagerly.

Not good. They really needed to get out of the water.

"Can you pull us to shore?" he asked with all seriousness. She nodded and he very stupidly tried to hold on to her. This time when their energies and skin touched, the lust surged like before but the energy between them sizzled and crackled. Mikan cried out and he let out a grunt in shock. Did it do that before? Or was he too dazed by the water's influence to notice?

Mikan quickly changed to her other form which dulled the effects between them, but not by much. Natsume had ended up holding her around her neck and she was kind enough to keep her head above water while they rocketed through it. The spray from the water stung his face, arms and chest at that speed, but he welcomed it because it gave him something to distract him.

Their sudden arrival at the beach had surprised more than a few, but they were all smart enough not to question it. The pair quietly sat down close together, but not so close as to risk accidently touching again. Anna served them a rather impressive lunch and they ate in subdued silence.

From time to time one of the others would try and talk to them, but the new uncomfortable aura seemed to be contagious around them making others feel awkward.

After lunch, the children who were the only ones immune to the strange atmosphere, came up and asked Mikan if they could go swimming again. At first, her face broke into a smile and it looked like she wanted too, but then she shot an odd look to Natsume which got him all pissed off again.

"Go. I seem to be fine as long as I am not in the water." The told her brusquely and she went with the kids and a few adults back into the water.

He watched Mikan from the safety of shore when he felt his brother behind him. '_Natsume? Is everything okay?'_

_No._ he said with as much abrasiveness as he had with Mikan. His human and dragon sides were both restless and dissatisfied. They were both angry, but there was nothing he could target to lash out at. How can someone be angry a water?

The bottled up negative energy was threatening to burst out of his control so he got up and started pacing the beach with a frantic vigor. He was aware that he was probably scaring his subordinates and maybe even a few of the children but paid it no mind. His need to move was the only way he could protect them from something worse. He needed some way to vent or he would explode at one of them.

Finally, he stepped into the shallows of the water spitefully. The water was not even up to his knees and he could feel it trying to pull him in. "Stop it." He growled at it quietly. "You want me to be with Mikan and I want to be with her." He continued in a voice only he and the water could hear. Fingers of water tried to curl around his legs trying to pull him towards the object of his obsession.

"I said stop. When I have Mikan it will be on my terms and no one else's. So stop interfering." He ordered harshly.

With more than a little shock, the waves stopped pulling. He waited in the water for several minutes and felt nothing special or out of the ordinary. At that point Mikan came out of the water to face him.

"What did you do?" she asked. Her expression showed nothing but total shock and confusion.

"I told it I mate on my own terms and to back off."

"And that worked?"

"Apparently."

"But… but… you shouldn't have been able to! Even I couldn't get it to stop its games! There's no way… how… it just doesn't make sense!"

"Maybe you just do not know how to talk properly to it." He answered, feeling a bit better. Mikan gave him a dark look that was about as scary as a hissing kitten. She started to fidget nervously as if she too, needed to pace.

"Something is definitely not right here. I don't know what it is, but I… " Mikan's thought trailed off and she spun to look at the water. Her mouth was hanging open and the look on her face was a mixture of horror and shock. The ripples of energy he was picking up from her were screaming in denial.

Natsume followed the direction of her gaze and tried to see what she was looking at, but saw nothing but water. Mikan quickly spun to look at him and shoved him hard enough to force him to stumble backwards to the water's edge. Natsume quickly regained his balance and looked out to where she was looking and finally saw what she was looking at.

Something huge was moving like a torpedo in the water towards Mikan. Natsume did not even have time to process the thought before an enormous sapphire colored sea dragon sprang up and out of the shallow water. Its massive head hovered a good fifteen feet above Mikan and Natsume's heads while its tail coiled around Mikan, effectively separating her from Natsume.

In a bright flash of light, the sapphire sea dragon quickly melted into a disgustingly handsome man with his arm draped around Mikan.

"Yo." the stranger said in accented Japanese "Am I interrupting?"

_Who the fuck is this now?_

tbc

* * *

AN: Oh cruelty of cruelties! A cliffhanger! *ducks flying pitch forks, rotten fruit and assorted other airborne objects*

Easy guys easy! I can't write and doge at the same time!

So I admit I was a bit anxious about this chapter I was not sure how well I could pull off flirting in non-human form. Did it feel a bit off? Or was it okay? It is hard for me to judge since I know what I mean to say, but that is not always what the reader picks up.

Ta for now!


	17. Chapter 17

A Dragon's Heart – Chapter 17

The intruder was a little taller than Natsume himself and he was built like a runner or swimmer. He was lean and whip like, his arms and legs were corded with muscle, without looking bulky. He made Natsume think of a surfer without his board, wearing long printed shorts and a skin tight top. His wet hair was black, but when the light caught it, it looked blue. Natsume had noticed that on occasion Mikan's otherwise brown hair had a tendency to appear gold in the sun and her brown eyes could look green at times. The red had originally just thought it was a peculiarity to her, but perhaps it had more to do with her mixed heritage. As if her dragon side refused to accept ordinary human pigmentation.

The male had eyes that were the same sapphire color as his hide and there was a permanent sparkle of mischief in them. He also had the most ridiculous star tattoo of all things below one of them. _Ugh, it makes him look like an idiot._ He thought, refusing to accept that the thought was childish or had anything to do with the fact that this jerk was still touching Mikan. Anyone stupid enough to put a star on their face was just asking to be made fun of.

The worst part for Natsume –although he flat out refused to admit it- was the charm he seemed to exude. The mischief in his eyes combined with a face that was quick to move into a cheeky unrepentant grin, he had no doubt that face was able to lure and charm flocks of girls.

Natsume hated him on sight.

It might even be a personal record for him. In less than a week he had been intensely attracted to a woman on sight, and now he had found a person who he hated just as quickly. He was never a particularly sociable person to begin with. He had a rank and an image to uphold, which made him a fairly cold and gruff towards new people. He was more than capable of hating people. His uncle and grandfather were proof of that, but he had never actually hated a person on sight before.

Natsume was weighing the possible repercussions of introducing himself by setting fire to the guy's spiky hair when he watched Mikan elbow the guy in the ribs. _That's my girl,_ he thought fondly, and hoped that she would follow up with a knee to the family jewels.

"Tsubasa you jerk! What if there had been humans around!" she yelled, pulling away from the jerk's arm so she could swat at him. It wasn't a knee to the groin, but… wait… Tsubasa? _As in Tsubasa from the phone call? _Just who in the hell was he to Mikan?

Mikan had said she was calling her family, but she did not actually specify what kind of family.

_He better not be related in a mate or kissing-cousin kind of way_ he growled in his mind.

At this point the unwelcome stranger spoke and Natsume found himself hating the man more if it was possible. The annoying fish's natural charm and charisma increased when he was moving and speaking. He had that carefree 'devil may care' way about him that Natsume himself could never hope to come close to.

"Relax, I could smell the little torch bug from fifty miles out." The intruder told her with and easy smile and a casual wave of his hand in Natsume's direction.

_Torch bug?_ Who did this stupid fish think he was calling torch bug? Oh he was so dead.

"Oi! Fish-breath, you are trespassing. Leave or I will make you leave." Natsume announced and produced a sizable fireball.

The stranger turned and gave Natsume a quick all encompassing look then promptly dismissed him as unimportant, annoying the red. "Chill, f-lamebrain, this does not concern you." Naturally, this succeeded in pissing Natsume off more. The red did not miss the way the jerk de-emphasized the 'f' sound in his insult, which was probably what the sea dragon was intending.

The soon-to-be-grilled-fish-dinner stranger then turned to Mikan, "Now come on Mikan, grab your stuff we are getting out of here." He ordered and tried steering her towards the water.

By then Natsume had figured that manners would be a total waste of time, and he launched the fireball at them. Of course, thanks to Mikan's strange ability, it disappeared before it hit, but it did manage to catch the jerk's attention. The stranger stopped dead and turned to give Natsume a warning look which was completely ineffective at warning the red to back off. _Nice try fish-face, I've seen toddlers scarier than you._

"Listen sparky, I told you this doesn't concern you. If we ever need an oversized, walking, birthday candle, we'll call you. Come on Mikan, let's go." He said and went to grab Mikan's arm.

_Birthday candle? _Oh this loser was so dead. Natsume started walking towards them with another fireball hovering over his palm. "Back away from the girl and leave." He ordered. Now if only Mikan would just back away a bit more so Natsume's flames would work, then everything would be good.

Mikan gave Natsume a look "It is okay Natsume, I can handle this myself, this is _mrrfffhha!_" whatever Mikan was about to say was cut off because the intruder had slapped his hand over her mouth.

"He doesn't need to know who I am." The intruder stated.

_Stop touching her!_ Natsume yelled in his mind. One would think it was the king touching her again with how angry he was. He was tempted to throw another useless fireball when his brother spoke to him in his mind.

'_Be careful Natsume, he is up to something.'_

_Obviously. He is trying to take Mikan!_ He said, clouding his mental voice with his intense dislike of the newcomer. He felt rather than saw Luka roll his eyes at him.

'_No stupid, I mean he is really up to something. He is baiting you. Koko is trying to read his mind, but Mikan's ability is interfering. He did get a quick impression that said he wanted you to come closer to him.' _

That surprised Natsume. He could not possibly think to use the water against him. Mikan's nullifying or even Mikan herself would put a stop to that. Did he think he could win by attacking Natsume physically? That would be entertaining. The young red was a trained mercenary and assassin, and truthfully, after the thing with Mikan and the water and now this jerk, he would like nothing better than to beat on someone. How convenient that he had a perfect volunteer.

Ignoring the warning of the others he slowly strode through the shallows until he was almost toe to toe with his opponent. This time Natsume didn't try to light his fireball over his palm. Instead, he lit it right next to the jerk's head on side opposite of Mikan. The fire still went out quickly, but not before he head the telltale sizzle of his fire touching the other guy – Tsubasa's wet hair.

Well that really got his attention. Tsubasa let out a small yell because he must have felt the steam against his head. As Natsume had hoped, Tsubasa pushed Mikan far enough away to fight with either magic or fists. Natsume was happy with either one.

The young red chose to let the blue sea dragon pick the method of fighting by making the first move. Tsubasa moved forward and Natsume moved to a ready stance for hand-to-hand combat. The water would be a bit of a hindrance, but it was only up to his knees so he was fairly sure that he could accommodate.

And then something happened that Natsume never wanted to experience again.

His body completely froze on him. His limbs were stuck, locked into one position and would not move. He wanted to move. He tried to move. Puzzled and more than a little alarmed he lowered his eyes (because he couldn't move his neck or head) to look at his hands. He could see them, and feel them, but nothing he did could move them, and he was really straining to move them. Could water magic do this?

The blue Tsubasa gave him a smug look "Oh, not so bold and cocky now are we?" he mocked.

Natsume heard Mikan off to the side, but couldn't see her. "Tsubasa stop it." He could hear the warning in her tone.

Tsubasa ignored her warning and gave Natsume an appraising look. "Do you like to dance torch bug? I could teach you. Watch this" and the stranger lifted his right leg out of the water. Miraculously, Natsume's right leg also came out of the water. _What the fuck? Luka, what the hell is he doing?_

"You put your right leg in; you put your right leg out," and the guy moved his leg behind himself forcing Natsume to mimic his movements. "You put your right leg in,"

_Luka!_ he yelled in his head at his brother. He was not going to allow himself to be humiliated by performing The Hokey Pokey in front of his subordinates.

'_It's the shadow!'_ Luka yelled back quickly.

"and you shake it all about." Tsubasa sang and forced Natsume to wriggle his right leg in the air.

_What?_

'_The shadow! Koko says he has control over you as long as he is on your shadow!'_ Natsume looked down and sure enough, his shadow was both on the water and through the water at his feet. Both were a distorted by the water but his opponent was in contact with them.

"You do The Hokey Pok-"

FOORRRRRRAAAAARRRRROOOOMMM!

To onlookers it looked like Natsume had exploded. A huge ball of fire burst out from him blasting them all with its heat and forcing his opponent back. The water at his legs instantly started bubbling and steaming. Between the steam and the flames, Natsume was completely hidden in the centre.

As quick as they started, the flames reduced to two fiery orbs suspended over the palm of each hand. His opponent gave him a surprised look, but quickly recovered and started swirling his hands in what Natsume now recognized as movements to control water. Before either one of them could start exchanging blows, Mikan ruined it all by walking in between them.

"Stop this you two." She ordered both of them, nullifying both of them in the process. You are both acting like children."

_He started it._ Natsume thought petulantly, and then realized how stupid that sounded.

Mikan gave Natsume an irritated look. "This is my uncle Tsubasa." She said to everyone, taking in the other air dragons watching nervously on the beach.

Uncle? That was one of her uncles? Natsume wondered then vaguely recalled that she had mentioned that the youngest of her grandparents' children was only a few years older than her. And crap, that meant the red couldn't kill him. He was fairly certain Mikan would be upset at him if he killed her uncle.

Maybe he could just maim him a little.

Mikan turned to glare at her uncle. "Tsubasa, I am a grown woman and I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself. Go home." She said with a certain note of finality which left her uncle staring at her with his mouth hanging open and Natsume looking far more smug than he probably had a right to be. It was not like she was taking sides or anything, but the young red chose to believe that she had indirectly done so.

The girl in question dismissed both of them with an exasperated look before stalking up towards the beach. Natsume strolled casually after her while her idiot uncle floundered somewhat behind them. The red had not noticed before, but Tsubasa had a canvas drawstring sack tied off to his left leg that caused him to walk a little awkwardly through the water, so he removed it.

"Mikan, you are not supposed to be here. Mom and dad were livid when they heard you had run off to Japan."

"Yeah well you can just tell them I'll be home when I'm ready. Good bye." She told her uncle with a voice was both hostile while dripping with sugary sweetness. As if to prove her point about her unwillingness to leave, she plopped down on a blanket next to the Imai siblings and their mates.

Constantly aware of his role and image, Natsume strolled up after her and got the others to move back with a look so he could sit next to her. Anna bustled in quickly after with what she called her special star bentos which were larger than the others due to his rank. One would probably have been sufficient to feed both of them plus two other people, but because Mikan was his special guest, she got one of her own.

Mikan's uncle Tsubasa walked up to her cautiously. Natsume could see he was aware that he was roughly surrounded by air dragons, but he was persistent. **"Mikan, can we go to talk about this privately?"** He asked, switching to English. It wasn't until then that Natsume had noticed they had been speaking in Japanese for everyone else's benefit.

"**There is nothing to discuss. I'm not going."**

"**Mikan, mom, dad and even Kazu were all threatening to come here and get you themselves. Even Tono said that he would come here and drag you home by your hair if you were not back by the time he finished his job."**

Natsume could feel worry seep into Mikan's determination through the bond they shared. The truth was he felt a bit uneasy himself. Logically, he knew she would have to leave eventually. It was not safe for her to be near his clan and if he was wise about it, he would support her leaving Japan. But wisdom wasn't the voice he was listening to right now. He just wasn't ready to let her go. It was selfish of him but he wanted just a bit more time with her. She was his first and only obsession and he wanted his memories of her to be more than a casual acquaintance.

Natsume watched as Mikan still put on a brave face despite her worry, and smiled at her uncle.

"**Gram and Gramps are in Scotland, Uncle Kazu is in Vancouver and Tono is… well… off on a job. I'll be fine for a few days."** She said sweetly.

"**Tono is in China and his job probably will not take that long."** Tsubasa told her flatly, causing her to look less confident. The pair looked ready to argue, but they were interrupted.

"Hyuuga, there are two more sea dragons approaching." Hotaru said in her usual monotone causing both sea dragons to look in the direction of the water. Mikan shot her uncle a dark look and then gave Natsume an alarmed one. The red wondered what his look was for because he had been staying out of their little family dispute since he left the water.

"Tell me you didn't bring Sumire along." She pleaded. Tsubasa threw his hands out and gave her a helpless look that even Natsume could translate to 'You think I could stop her?'

Mikan gave Natsume another look and inside her feelings were churning and roiling. Natsume could recall this was the screaming voice on the phone, but what he did not understand was why Mikan did not want her here. He didn't get a chance to debate it long because two human heads appeared in the water.

Without a word, Mikan stood up and went back to the water's edge to wait for the newcomers.

As they emerged from the water, Natsume could tell they were both women and that both were vastly different from Mikan. Both women were quite attractive in their own way and moved with a bold, confident air that made Mikan's confidence appear timid and immature.

The first one was the kind of woman that men spotted in an instant. She was a woman who was fully in tune with her sensuality. Unlike most women, she did not shy away from it, she did not make apologies for it, and she knew how to use it to her best advantage. Her dark shoulder length hair was wet and plastered to her head but see the way the sunlight gave it a tinge of green that went along with her rather vivid green eyes. She was wearing a bikini top with a pair of shorts, and unlike Mikan she picked her suit without function in mind. Her top displayed her cleavage to its fullest and her shorts rode so low on her slim hips the top edge of her suit bottom was visible above the waistline. She strode out of the water with a catlike grace carrying a backpack much like Mikan's slung over one shoulder. Looking at her, the first word that popped into his head wasn't slut or easy, it was man-eater.

The other woman just behind her had shoulder length hair as well, although hers was light reddish and had an opalescent quality in the sun. She was dressed more like Mikan was when she had arrived in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, but that was where the similarity ended. She too, moved with a confident air, but it was not one of unabashed sensuality. This was a woman who was fearless. She had an air about her that practically screamed 'I am who I am, you wanna make something of it?' This was also a woman who did not make apologies, but for completely different reasons. The second woman stalked straight out of the water on a direct course for Tsubasa.

Mikan and Tsubasa stood at the edge of the water while Natsume with his people opted to wait a little further back. The second woman walked right up to Tsubasa and did not bother saying a word. Instead, she dropped her fist down hard on the top of his head. **"What did you think you were doing changing directions on us without warning us first?"** She yelled.

Natsume would not admit it out loud, but she was kind of scary. In a way she reminded him of his mother whenever she lost her temper.

"**Ow! Misaki! That hurt! I had to change direction because I knew Mikan wasn't in Hokkaido like I thought."** Tsubasa complained while rubbing his head.

Misaki ignored his excuses and gave Mikan a polite smile. **"Mikan, good to see you are okay."**

Mikan gave her a sickly smile. **"To you as well, Misaki." **At this point the other woman strode up and gave Mikan a disgusted look.

"**Yeah well I'm not happy to see you! What the hell do you think you are doing making us come all the way here to get you?"** she asked with her arms crossed under her breasts and her bare foot tapping in the sand. Like she did on the phone, this woman, Sumire, Natsume remembered correctly, brought out Mikan's temper.

"I didn't ask you to come" Mikan responded waspishly in Japanese to remind her family they were being rude by speaking in another language in front of strangers. "You are more than welcome to go home without me." The woman Sumire gave Mikan a surprised, slightly impressed look and then it changed to one of suspicion. Her eyes drifted past Mikan to take in Natsume and his people.

Natsume felt Sumire's gaze like it was tangible thing along with her instant interest in him. He resisted the urge to squirm under that appraising look.

"My, my, my, what have we here?" She asked to no one in general with a deeper, huskier tone. Without bothering to wait for an answer, the woman sashayed past Mikan towards Natsume. Her movements were all swaying hips and shoulders and as subtle as a sledgehammer. The woman could probably give the clan's concubines a run for their money. The strange woman walked right up to him stopping way closer than was appropriate for strangers and his personal comfort zone. If it would not have looked weak, he would have backed up to get some breathing room.

"Aren't you lovely?" she asked in that same husky voice. She did not actually bat her eyes at him, but they were loaded with promises and intent. Natsume saw her extend one index finger and he just knew she was planning on touching him, when another slim hand intercepted her by grabbing her wrist.

"Knock it off Permy." He heard Mikan growl at her. He rather liked the possessive tone in her voice. _Permy?_ Natsume wondered then noticed the woman's wet hair wanted to hang in dripping ringlets.

Natsume returned the woman's bold look with a bland one of his own. Actually, he was a little surprised at his total lack of response to her. As a healthy male, he should at least be able to appreciate her on a basic sexual level, but he felt nothing. It was almost like he was standing next to a cardboard cutout. In some parallel universe, he was sure he would have eagerly taken her up on her on what she was so clearly offering, but in the here and now… _sorry sweetheart, not interested_.

His gaze slid off her easily and zeroed in on a very irritable looking Mikan. _She's so cute when angry._ His sea dragon had come up and wedged herself in the small space between Natsume and her cousin causing said cousin to look back and forth between Mikan and Natsume in surprise.

"Alright, you are here, you have seen me, you know I'm fine, now go home." Mikan told them abruptly, while subtly edging back from her cousin. Her movements forced Natsume who was standing right behind her to edge back as well thereby creating space between Natsume and Sumire. Natsume and Mikan were barely brushing against each other, but that combined with angry territorial vibes coming off of Mikan made Natsume's barely cooled blood heat up again. With her family here now was not the time to get all hot and bothered.

While Natsume was trying to calm his hormones, Tsubasa chose not to answer his niece. Instead, he gave her a look, walked over to where the blankets were laid out, and dropped to the sand next to them. A heartbeat later Misaki and Sumire followed his example. "No can do kiddo. As long as you are here, so are we." He said simply.

Natsume stayed standing next to Mikan, but most of his people took their actions as leave to return to their lunches and enjoy the free show.

"What? I do not need a babysitter!" She squawked.

Tsubasa rolled his eyes at her. "You might not be a baby, but you are not exactly an ordinary grown up either." That caused Natsume's brows to rise wondering what her uncle meant by that statement. Mikan apparently wondered as well.

"Just what do you mean by that?" the shrieked at him, causing the three newcomers to laugh.

"Mikan," Misaki began in the kind of slow tone one would use with a child or an idiot "I haven't known you as long as Sumire or Tsubasa, but even I know you are a trouble magnet.

"I am not!" Mikan demanded with a stamp of her foot into the sand. That caused the others to laugh again.

"Oh let's count shall we?" her cousin Sumire said in a sarcastic tone. "You've been shot at."

"The police said that was a gang thing. I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time." Mikan said defensively.

Tsubasa then piped up "Abducted twice!"

"That wasn't my fault."

"Poisoned." Misaki added helpfully.

"That was an accident!"

"Oh don't forget that armed robbery." Added Sumire.

"You're blaming me for that now?"

"The point is Mikan; trouble follows you like a lost puppy. If I didn't know better, I would swear you were cursed." Tsubasa explained in a quiet voice, and then his expression changed. "Ah! That reminds me, I forgot the reason I knew you weren't in Hokkaido." He said and opened his drawstring sack.

Mikan gave the sack a wary look. For a moment Natsume was sure he saw the sack move. _Is there something alive in that?_

Looking a bit more worried, Mikan started to back away past Natsume nervously. "You didn't actually bring him did you? Sumire was one thing but please tell me you didn't bring Mr. Bear." she asked in a quavering voice, backing up a little faster.

Tusbasa stuck his arm into the sack and began pulling out a fairly large zipper locking bag. "Of course I had to bring him. He is the best way to find you." Natsume watched as Mikan's uncle fully extracted the clear plastic bag and saw what looked to be a teddy bear inside. "You know he was really upset when he found out that you had left him at home."

This time Natsume was at a loss. Was that Mikan's childhood teddy bear? What was the big deal with bringing it, other than for the embarrassment factor? It was clear he was missing something because once Mikan saw the bear, she took off at a dead run down the beach.

And then the freakiest thing of all the freaky, strange, and downright bizarre things that have happened in his magical life, happened.

The bear, of all things, jumped out of the bag on its own power and took off after her. Within seconds it had caught up to her tackled her to the sand and started pounding on her. The scene was so surreal that for a moment all Natsume and the others could do was stand there and stare.

Natsume's instincts snapped back quicker than his logic and registered that Mikan was in trouble and jogged over to help her. Really though, how much damage could a stuffed animal do?

"Ow, hey, ow! Mr. Bear, stop that! Ow, you knew I, ouch, couldn't take you! Ow!" Mikan yelled at the stuffed animal in between hits. Natsume shot a small arc of fire at it that of course, disappeared before it did any damage, but it did force the bear to turn and look at him.

The look in the bear's beady plastic eyes caused him to stumble a bit in the sand. _What the hell is that thing?_ There was something real in that bear! It wasn't and illusion or a spell or anything, there was a genuine form of intelligence there! What's more is that he felt it tell him to mind his own business.

Natsume started to feel a bit more alarmed thinking Mikan might be in real danger from whatever creature was disguised as the teddy bear and sped up.

The sight of Mikan wrestling with a stuffed animal was still a little difficult for Natsume to process, but he ran up anyway, grabbed the thing by the back of the head and pulled it off her. That earned him a surprisingly hard kick from what should be a soft toy. It shocked him enough that he dropped it and it moved to attack Natsume. He tried to set fire to it, but nothing happened. Just what was this thing? The head he held felt like a stuffed bear, and the body was lightweight, but that hit felt like it had come from a very solid creature.

Mikan had gotten up by this time and had started to swirl her arms. With a flick of her wrist a small amount of sea water splashed it causing the thing to flop lifelessly to the ground.

By now some of the others had run up to see what was happening. Youichi was the most surprising because he walked up to the bear and looked devastated. "You killed it." He accused Mikan with big tears in his eyes.

Mikan, who looked a mess and was trying to rinse herself off with the section of ocean waves that she was controlling, gave the kid a surprise look. "Don't worry, he's fine. He just doesn't like water. It makes him weak. He will be fine when he dries out."

"Why did you hurt him?" the little silver still looked angry, but was clearly relieved the toy bear was okay.

Mikan gave him a tired look and squatted down near the wet stuffed animal. She motioned for Youichi to come closer, which he did reluctantly. She then looked at Natsume "Natsume, can I get a little heat please?"

Curious and completely confused, Natsume lit a fireball in his palm and knelt down next to her. Mikan must have somehow shut off her nullifying power, because his fire remained steady. He thought he was done with surprises, but he found that he was wrong when she put the bear in his fire. Youichi made a yell of protest, but it quickly died off when they all saw that nothing happened to it.

"Don't worry, fire can't hurt him." She said quickly. "This is my first friend, Mr. Bear. Mr. Bear, these are my new friends Natsume, and Youichi. Don't do anything bad to them." She said by way of warning and introduction.

"Can I play with Mr. Bear?" Youichi asked. His eyes were completely focused and mesmerized by the stuffed bear. Several other kids chimed in their begging and pleading to play too.

Mikan gave them and Mr. Bear an uneasy look. "Uh… I suppose…" she answered warily and upon hearing this, the bear tried to struggle out of her grip to get away from her. She quickly angled the bear to face towards her. "Alright, you play nice with them you hear? If I see even one tear caused by you I am going to have the ocean sweep you up into the deepest, darkest hole it can find and keep you there for the rest of your existence, get it?" she hissed in a quiet voice that only Natsume, Youichi, and the bear could hear.

The bear did not say anything but Natsume got the impression it understood the threat to be real. In a flash, the bear was off and running with a half a dozen children after it. _It would probably be a good practice of their speed._ He thought reasonably. Mikan wanted to watch over them, but Natsume pushed her in the direction of their waiting lunches. The rest of the adults that had gotten up had decided to return to their lunches as well. _Hopefully the Imai's haven't stolen it all._ He thought, noticing that the siblings were not among the people standing around.

He was starting to think her family was right about her being a trouble magnet. He had only known her for a few days and he had yet to have a plain, normal, uneventful day in that time. Yet even as he thought that, he had to admit he was enjoying himself. A few paces ahead of him he spied Luka and Aoi giving him matching smug looks.

'_Figured it out yet little brother?'_

_What are you talking about?_

'_Oh I think you know.'_

'_Personally, I like your choice in mates big brother.'_ Aoi added to their private conversation.

_She is not my mate._ He told them somewhat testily. If the circumstances were different, he would be more than interested in the chance, but he was who he was. If he cared at all about her, he would tie her up and pack her off with her family. He was just too damn selfish.

"_Yeah right.'_ His brother and sister mocked him. _'Natsume, it has been years since I have seen you lose your cool, or get mad, or even smile. Ever since Mikan showed up you have been doing all those. You are happy when she is around Natsume. Don't let the clan or the old man ruin it.' _Luka said before turning away from him.

Natsume found himself stopping dead in the middle of the beach. It wasn't exactly a shocking revelation. The thought had been hovering on the edge of his awareness for a while now but this was the first time he truly acknowledged it.

Everything looked the same but he felt like the whole world just suddenly changed colors and shapes. A week ago he was ready to just let himself die on a mission, but now…

_I'm happy. _

Mikan who was walking next to him stopped and gave him a puzzled look. "Are you alright?" she asked, looking concerned.

Tingling warmth bubbled up inside of him threatening to come out in the shape of a large smile on his face. "Yeah, I'm fine." He answered in a rough voice.

_I'm happy._

tbc

* * *

Awww Natsume is happy.

Okay so all of you who just knew it was going to be Tsubasa can take this opportunity to yell 'Yay Tubasa!'

…

Go on, I'll wait until you are done

…

All done?

So about Mikan being a trouble magnet thing. If you squint hard enough, you can place all of those events to her in the manga as well. Wow, she really is a trouble magnet.

Okay on to business. I have a rather immature plot bunny up for adoption. I like it, but it takes all my effort just to try and post one chapter a week of this story so a lot of my bunnies are dying off. Use it if you can, but don't force yourself.

The premise is **The Black Mark**. I got to thinking about cannon stories when the characters are older and I thought this is the same school that had alices like Narumi and Reo pass through as well as characters like Tono(manwhore) and Yukihira(who slept with a student). Then it suddenly hit me. With a school so bent on controlling the students, they would totally monitor them psychically.

Well to be more specific, it would be just like the academy to have a psychic mechanism to monitor all buildings and rooms with the exception of the teachers' quarters for sexual activity. If a student had sexual intercourse (lesser intimate contact is fine or you could be busted in the shower) in any monitored area, a black mark would appear on their student record.

Of course the school would feed a bogus line about how they are trying to "protect" the students from being taken advantage of by stronger alices. They could also claim they monitor for severe or fatal health problems with a red mark, but in the end, it is still a loss of privacy and a form of control. The worst part is that the whole faculty and thereby the whole school would know if a pair of students had actually "done it" within twenty-four hours.

I had clear images in my head of certain scenes

-When Tono was in high school, his record had so many black dots it looked like a Dalmatian. A fact he was quite proud of.-

-Natsume talking to Mikan "Stupid, don't you remember the warning we all got in health class? You can't have sex anywhere in the school without the whole school knowing."-

-Everyone knew by lunchtime the next day when XXX and XXX lost their virginity together. He was okay, but she was humiliated.-

Anyway like I said I like the concept, but I just don't know when or if I will ever get to use it. Maybe someone out there can use the idea or incorporate it into a story.

Please! Don't force yourself to use it! I just wanted to say if any of you can, feel free to use it.

Ta for now!


	18. Chapter 18

I'll apologize right now for the un-betaed quality of this chapter. It is probably loaded with typos for which I am very sorry. I've been having terrible migraines lately and reading too much gets to be a literal pain.

A Dragon's Heart – Chapter 18

Tsubasa didn't know what to think now. Things were not going as he expected. His niece Mikan, whom he loved like a sister, was not usually this willful. That is not to say she did not have her stubborn moments, she had thousands of them. Mikan was certainly not the type to blindly follow others, but most times after a few complaints and a temper tantrum or two, she would usually do what she was told to do. _What was I thinking? That she would just meekly return home? I should have seen something like this coming._ He chastised himself. They all should have seen this coming. She had been a little too cooperative lately.

Ever since she was small Mikan had wanted to go to Japan to see her mother's ancestral home. At times it was all she would ever talk about. The family had tried to humor her at first because they had thought she would grow out of it. As she grew, and her ability to swim across oceans safely grew, they quickly realized that her interest had not waned and they had to intervene and forbid her to go anywhere near Japan.

Japan was no place for a girl like Mikan.

They had already heard the tales of dragons, both sea and air, mysteriously disappearing. Misaki herself was an indirect progeny of what had been happening here. Her father was a doppelganger who had by chance happened across a dying sea dragon who had narrowly escaped from Japan. The sea dragon had told him a tale about trying to escape the air dragons that were taking over everything the country, only to run into a massive group of dragon hunters that had been waiting for them as if they had been told exactly where to find them. Already dying, the sea dragon allowed the doppelganger to take his form, his magic, and the rest of his life in exchange for a proper prayer to the gods of air and sea upon his death so they would guide his soul to the forever plains.

Misaki had once told him that her father had never intended to spend the rest of his life as a sea dragon, but once he accepted the form, the strong dragon magic completely overrode his doppelganger nature. Now the only trace there was of his former self was in his daughter's weak ability to copy. The problem was it was so weak the only thing she could copy was herself.

Tsubasa often wondered if her unconventional family tree was the reason she seemed to walk around with a chip on her shoulder. She should know by now that pedigree was not important to him.

The sea dragon shook his head. He was supposed to be thinking about Mikan, but somehow his thoughts strayed to Misaki. Somehow, she always had that effect on him. _When will she say yes?_ He wondered for about the thousandth time about his courtship to her. _Stop thinking about her!_ He reminded himself, _Mikan, Mikan, Mikan!_

Yes Mikan. What to do about Mikan?

Mikan, who should be nowhere near, yet was currently sitting on a beach in Japan.

With an air dragon next to her.

Gods, but did she have the most amazing tendency to get herself in the worst positions. She could very well be sitting next to the reason she was an orphan. As soon as he thought it, he rejected it. No. Mikan wasn't that stupid or reckless.

Tsubasa could barely remember his brother Izumi. He was three the last time he saw his brother and all he had was hazy images of a smiling face that had taken him to an amusement park. What he could clearly remember was the day his mate Yuka had showed up unexpectedly on their doorstep. She was heavily pregnant and bleeding badly. The fear and dread in his older siblings and his parents was so strong he, even at the age of four could taste it in the air. He remembered being too scared to go to sleep that night because of the tense atmosphere that was strangling them all. Eventually, he fell into a fitful sleep, and by the time he woke up the next morning, he had a brand new, orphaned, niece.

They had never truly found out what happened to Izumi. Yuka had never been able to tell them because she was already in labor when she had appeared. They were all certain he was dead though. No one could contact him telepathically, and no male in their family would ever leave his pregnant mate unprotected, much less allow her to risk both her and her child by swimming across a turbulent ocean. Izumi would have protected her to his last breath.

_There are not many things in this world that could kill a healthy dragon._ He thought to himself, while discretely looking at Mikan's companion. He was certainly a complication that Tsubasa had not anticipated.

He had seen the way the little torch bug was looking at Mikan. Hell, the whole beach had probably seen it. The guy had tried to hide it of course, but it became blatantly obvious when Sumire had shown up.

If he had just been interested in a quick tumble on the exotic side with a sea dragon, he would have taken Sumire up on her offer and Tsubasa would have been okay with that. Sumire was a big girl and knew what she was doing and how to handle herself. After a few days they most likely would have lost interest in each other, and would have moved on with their lives.

But he clearly did not want Sumire. If his bland look wasn't enough proof of that, the change in his face as his gaze moved from Sumire to Mikan was. His eyes heated up and the grim harsh lines of his face softened when they moved to the younger woman. Tsubasa had felt a cold certainty settle in his gut when he saw that face. It was one he was quite familiar with. He had a similar one that showed up when he was talking to particular sea dragon, doppelganger half-breed. Not only was it obvious that Natsume was interested in Mikan, it was also apparent the interest was mutual. If Tsubasa's gut was right –and he was fairly sure it was- they would not be able to take Mikan without some kind of fight.

His eyes wandered involuntarily to Misaki. If he was in a similar situation, he doubted he would let Misaki leave quietly.

Damn.

Well might as well be polite.

Everyone had begun settling themselves among the laid out blankets and were getting ready to eat lunch. He could tell just by looking at them they were a dragon clique. There was always something about dragons even in human form that was just different from normal humans. They just did not feel human.

Taking a deep breath, he stretched out his hand to the young man next to his niece. He could tell by the way the others subtly deferred to Mikan's companion that he was the alpha male among them. Although Sumire's interest in him would have been enough proof of that. She had a strong animal instinct that allowed her to unerringly pick out the dominant male in a room of thousands.

"I'm sorry, we did not get a chance to properly introduce ourselves. This is Sumire Shouda, and this is Misaki Harada," he said with a subtle possessive glare at the men present when he mentioned Misaki, "and I am Tsubasa Yukihira." As soon as he mentioned his name he saw Mikan wince and he knew he had made a mistake.

Her companion, Natsume, he remembered, along with all of the others froze. Natsume gave Tsubasa a surprised look, and then gave Mikan a dark one. "Yukihira? You said your name was Sakura."

Tsubasa tensed and he felt everyone else on the beach tense as well. How was he supposed to know she had used an alias?

Mikan coughed awkwardly. "Er… yeah… ahem… well… at the time I didn't know you so I thought it might be better if I didn't mention my real name."

"You're a Yukihira thief?" he accused her. Tsubasa winced again. Apparently their reputation had preceded them.

Mikan bristled at the insult. "No, I'm a nursing student. I just happen to come from a family with a few thieves and a few smugglers in it." She replied testily.

The man gave her a look and did not appear convinced. "Yukihiras are not ordinary thieves and smugglers."

_No we are not_, Tsubasa agreed with a strange pride. Yukihiras were the best. Tsubasa himself was already doing high security jobs before he even graduated high school. His shadow ability gave him quite the edge. But Mikan was telling the truth, she was not much of a thief. "Mikan is telling the truth." He broke in with a candid open look. "Occasionally she has helped with some of our… erm… shipping shall we say? But she is not a thief."

Natsume did not look away from Mikan "So you are a smuggler." He said brusquely.

Tsubasa could tell Mikan was getting angry. "No, I'm a nursing student! And I would watch where I swing that high and mighty attitude if I were you Mr. Assassin." she said scathingly. Tsubasa saw the guy grimace, but stay silent.

Into the awkward moment a young woman who Tsubasa guessed was Natsume's sister given her coloring, cleared her throat. "Ahem, well… I'm Hyuuga Aoi and this is my brother Natsume." The young woman continued to introduce everyone and Tsubasa was able to pick up more about them than what she was saying. She did not call the blond man beside her, her mate, but their involvement with each other was apparent to anyone with a working set of eyes and a decent sense of smell. The way they looked at each other and the fact that their smell was all over one another gave them away. She continued to introduce a few weaker dragons that Tsubasa nodded to politely, noting which ones were mated and which males were single. There was young one male dragon, that was casting strange dark looks at Sumire, but the male sea dragon chose to put that issue on the back burner. As long as the kid didn't cause any problems he would leave it alone.

He was introduced to a pair of siblings with stony expressions and their respective mates. He had noticed the Imai pair earlier when they had sat down. He had noticed them because they had been busy snatching food from everyone else's lunch. Actually, they were not half bad. With a little training, they would make pretty good thieves with their natural talent for stealing. At least that is what he thought until the others sat down and noticed that most of their lunch was gone. No one was fooled as to who had stolen their food. They all knew and were shooting them dirty looks which the siblings ignored stoically.

The girl, Hotaru spoke up when she was introduced. "What type of animatronics are you using on that bear?" she asked.

_Anima-what-ics?_ Tsubasa was a little taken aback by the question until Mikan spoke up. "Hotaru is quite the inventor. She made this awesome phone that you are not going to believe." She said proudly, like she had something to do with the other woman's inventing prowess. Then she turned to Imai, "Mr. Bear is not a machine, he is actually a stuffed animal that is possessed by an ifrit."

The air dragons all gave her varying strange and somewhat alarmed expressions which caused the sea dragons to chuckle. Ifrits were fire type members of the djinn or genie race. Although they were technically not evil, they were not particularly friendly either. They hated humans, hated being captured, and they hated granting wishes or being in servitude. They were the original creators of 'the loophole' and were the source of the curse 'be careful of what you wish for.' Their alarm was understandable.

Tsubasa took up the explanation. "He was a gift from Mikan's first love." He told them, and had the pleasure of watching Natsume's head whip around to glare hatefully at the bear that was still being chased around by the children. His pleasure was short lived when he noticed that Mikan was glaring rather viciously at him.

"He was not my first love! At best you could call him my first crush."

Next to him Sumire scoffed. "Please, who are you trying to kid? Kaname Sono is gorgeous. Every girl wants a guy like him, including me."

Tsubasa gave his older niece a strange look. Yeah it was true that both she and Mikan did moon after Kaname when they were pre and early teens but it was a bit unlike her to mention something like that. Was she trying to needle Natsume for turning her down? Or was she trying to test his interest in Mikan? Judging by the now murderous look the alpha male was giving the stuffed animal, he figured a bit of both.

Tsubasa broke into the conversation again. "Mr. Bear is sort of Mikan's guardian and friend. I wasn't exaggerating before when I said she draws trouble like a magnet. My friend Kaname is a quite a gifted mage." That caused Natsume's glare to move from the bear to him. "When we were kids, Kaname captured an ifrit and trapped its soul in that bear. Mr. Bear is Mikan's guardian and protector for the rest of her life plus one day. He is to protect her with his life if need be, and is forbidden to do anything that would either directly or indirectly lead to her death. If he breaks his end of the contract, he would be banished from this plain of existence."

"Personally, I think he kind of likes Mikan." Misaki speculated with a winsome smile. "He was really upset with her for leaving him alone."

Tsubasa watched Mikan squirm uncomfortably. He knew his niece and the bear had developed an odd sort of friendship. Natsume had gone back to glaring at the bear. He wondered what the dragon would say if he knew his jealousy was showing.

"I have a question." Misaki said, changing the subject. "What is with the water around here? It acted kind of strange."

Well that caused a rather strange reaction from both Mikan and Natsume. The pair's eyes both dropped to the ground and they refused to look at anyone. Both were blushing and fidgeting and the awkwardness between them was tangible. _Interesting. I wonder what happened to them._

Tsubasa had noticed the odd feel to the water too. It was strange how ecstatic it was when he showed up but he had been too busy to pay much attention to it. There was one thing he had noticed in his rush. He noticed the water seemed to hold a sense of anticipation. Like it was waiting for or expecting something to happen.

_I wonder if that has anything to do with what I just saw between them now._

He would have to spend some time in the water later anyway so he would find out sooner or later.

_I wonder if Misaki would like to go for a moonlit swim._

_

* * *

  
_

The afternoon progressed rather nicely. Mikan gave up her lunch to her family and Natsume quietly and without comment shared his with her. After lunch, some of the children gave up chasing Mr. Bear and begged the sea dragons to come swim again. All was happy and playful with one rather glaring exception.

Kokoro Yome was in a foul mood.

He was not usually an irritable person, and he really had no right or reason to be, but ever since that woman walked out of the water he has been ill-tempered.

Sumire Shouda.

The name didn't ring any bells. Not surprising, since the one time they had met they didn't bother to exchange names.

He had still been such a kid when he met her. He had only just turned sixteen three days before and the king chose celebrate it by sending him along on a mission in Monte Carlo with Persona of all people. The mission had been a rather cruel initiation for him into the clan business. It didn't matter that he did not want to be a part of the business to begin with.

The mind reader's teeth and fists clenched tightly as memories that he had thought long suppressed rose to the surface.

Natsume had tried so hard to hide his mind reading ability and to protect him from the king but he was only a year older than Koko. They were just fooling themselves thinking they would have ever gotten away with it. Eventually the king found out and as punishment, he sent Natsume on a mission that he was far too young and too inexperienced for. Subaru had been away at medical school at the time so it took over a week for Natsume to fully recover from his injuries. In the interim, the king took advantage of Natsume's weak state and Koko's guilt by pushing him into being a translator and intelligence gatherer on the Monte Carlo mission.

Koko had never figured on what it would be like to read someone's mind as they were died from Persona's rot ability. Even now, sitting on a beach, mid-afternoon in early summer, he grew cold at the memory.

So at the grand old age of sixteen, he snuck into a party for some rich loser playboy and his three hundred closest friends and proceeded to get stinking drunk. The liquid painkiller was not enough to hold back all of the fresh gruesome memories for long, so he snagged himself a random bottle and began to stagger off to his hotel room where he could drink himself into oblivion.

That was when he ran into her. He could tell she was something more than human the moment he saw her.

Koko doubted anyone but he had seen her sneaking over the garden wall and into the same party; she was so quick and stealthy. She was obviously up to something and he might have even tried to read her mind to figure out what she was up to, but at the time his mind reading skills were a little unreliable. In retrospect, now that he knew she was from a family of thieves and smugglers, chances are she was probably on a job herself and was using the party as either her alibi or her escape route.

His memory was a little fuzzy on what he had initially said to her but given how drunk he was, it was not surprising. All he could clearly remember was that one minute he was boldly striding up to her to say whatever it was he'd said, and the next they were up in his hotel room all over each other.

The alcohol had burned out of his dragon system far too quickly, but her body was able to chase the horrors away for the night. By morning she was gone, and he had never even got her name.

Sumire Shouda. The first woman he had ever had sex with. He really shouldn't be annoyed with seeing her again, but he was.

He was a healthy eighteen year old silver dragon. Since that night there had been several women in his bed so what was he so uptight for? He should be able to just walk up to her and say 'Hey remember me?' and they could laugh it off, but he just couldn't.

Okay, honestly, it did piss him off a bit when she looked right through him without a hint of recognition and went straight for Natsume. He was almost flat on his butt drunk that night and he still remembered her! At the very least she should be able to remember him!

Koko sat in sullen silence as he watched her transform into a rather stunning emerald colored sea dragon in order to play with the children in the water. The sight evoked a rather vivid memory of a dragon stain that exact color running along her spine like a deep green tattoo. He also remembered trailing light kisses down that stain just moments after they had both reached their respective climaxes.

Darn it, he was supposed to be annoyed, but that memory was making him aroused, which actually, annoyed him more.

After a while she emerged to sun herself on the beach and he sat back and waited for her to acknowledge him.

After about twenty minutes not only did she not acknowledge his existence, she tried to send a flirtatious smile at both Natsume and Luka which earned her warning glares from Mikan and Aoi. Stupid annoying woman, what was she playing at? Anyone could see they were unavailable. He finally got fed up with being ignored and looked into her mind only to find that not only did she remember him, but she was intentionally ignoring him!

That did it.

He casually got up and strolled over to her with his habitual smile plastered on his face. If anyone looked closely though, they would be able to see the rather hard strained edge to his smile.

"You are making a fool of yourself." He said bluntly, by way of introduction.

Sumire turned to give him a fake, hard edged smile back. "Excuse me? Who are you that you think you can talk to me like that?"

His smile dropped off of his face altogether and he gave her a hard look. "Cut the crap. You and I both know we are quite well acquainted with each other."

Still being open to her mind, he saw her smile falter a bit and felt the surprise in her mind. _'Dammit I was hoping it wasn't him. Maybe he'll go away if I act like I don't recognize him?'_ He heard her think. She tossed around the idea to pretending not to know him for a second or two before he interrupted her thoughts.

"Don't even bother pretending you don't know me. Or I'll be forced to do something to jog your memory." He warned her in a harsh tone. Her smile had pretty much fallen completely off her face and from her mind he could see flashes of images from their night together.

He quickly realized with a shudder that she remembered their night far better than he did. One of the images was quite shocking for him because he did not even remember doing anything like that with or to her. _But she clearly liked it. I must have somehow used my alice when we were in bed because there is no way I would have known how to do that._

"I see I don't need to jog your memory do I?" he asked and his voice was fighting him to drop to a much huskier tone without his permission. _Control, I need to stay in control. _The last thing he wanted was for her to know she had an effect on him. Once she realized that, he would lose whatever game it was they were playing. He might not know what game he was playing, the rules of the game, or even how to win, but he was definitely not going to lose to her.

Pink tinted her cheeks and he could clearly hear her talking in her head _'Hmph, what could he know? He was almost flat on his ass drunk that night.'_

"I wasn't that drunk." He said, answering her silent thought causing her to gape at him.

'_What? Is he some kind of mind reader or something?'_ she wondered inside her head.

"What? Is he some kind of mind reader or something?" He said in near perfect synch with the question in her head. He smiled maliciously at her and gave her a few seconds to figure it out. He heard her mind stutter and trip over what he was implying until she finally tested him by thinking a handful of rather unflattering thoughts about him.

"Now that is just rude." He chided her. "A real lady would not know words like that."

She in turn, used an even more colorful and vulgar vocabulary to describe him which caused him to raise his eyebrow at her. "Get out of my head!" Finally she made an ugly noise in the back of her throat at him and turned away from him to look out onto the water. "What do you want anyway?" she bit out between clenched teeth.

The angle she was facing and her minimal clothing allowed him perfect view of her dragon stain. With a mental groan, he resisted the strong urge to reach out and stroke it.

"Aren't you the bold one walking about with your dragon stain exposed for the entire world to see?" he said, with a bit more aggression than he intended. The more he looked at the strip of green running down her spine the harder it was to keep his hands to himself.

She gave him a snide look. "You are one to talk. You're just walking around in a pair of shorts and doing nothing to hide yours." She said, and he had the pleasure of watching her eyes drop from his to roam across his chest and shoulders. _'He's certainly grown.'_ He heard her mumble silently to herself.

He was tempted to offer to show her just how much he had filled out over the past two years, but he figured that she would not appreciate the reminder that he could hear every thought she had including the stray ones.

"The difference is that I knew I was on clan lands with clan members. What would you have done if you had surfaced on a public beach like that?"

"Most people just think it's an odd or unfinished snake tattoo."

"Yeah until they touch it and realize it doesn't feel like human skin." He really hated that he knew from very personal experience that it was smooth and leathery like dragon hide. He hated it more that it turned him on.

"Who I let touch it is none of your concern." Ouch, she had him there. They were technically nothing to each other. A one-night-stand that you never even got the name of doesn't exactly rate high on the list of close personal acquaintances. It certainly did not entitle him to tell her how to live her life. However there was something he was entitled to do.

"It is my concern if you were hoping it would be Natsume or Luka." Luka honestly did not matter as much as Natsume did. Koko considered Luka a close friend, but he knew if Sumire ever made a play for him Aoi would be a better deterrent than Koko could ever be.

She gave him a pithy look "That would be between them and myself. Now back off, I don't need a chaperone."

"Who said I was trying to protect you?" he asked scathingly and he saw her nostrils flare in irritation. The hard smile was back on his face. "All of the dragons you see here are completely loyal to Natsume. Most of us owe him more than we will ever be able to pay back so if he has finally found something that he wants and makes him happy I'm not about to let you ruin it."

Almost as soon as he said it, he regretted it. He was still partially open to her mind and he could feel the sting his words delivered. With it came an avalanche of feelings.

Koko learned instantly that Sumire loved her cousin. She really did. But even though she loved Mikan and was older than her, Sumire had always felt like she was always in Mikan's shadow. Everyone was always fussing over Mikan. Poor Mikan because her parents were killed, poor Mikan because she was a magic nullifier, poor Mikan, poor Mikan, poor Mikan. Sumire did love Mikan, but she was also sick of all the attention her cousin got. She knew it was childish and wrong, but she couldn't stop feeling like she was always competing against and losing to Mikan.

Koko watched while Sumire shook off her gloomy thoughts and gave him a hard look. "If you think I'm going to let Mikan be forced into entertaining your boss, you are grossly mistaken. I'll step in and ruin anything that forces her to do anything she does not want."

Crap. He may be a mind-reader, but he can still misjudge people. He had her pegged as being a selfish brat, and a man-eater, but she also had a sensitive caring side to her. As jealous as she was of Mikan, she was still willing to protect her.

Koko had a feeling that whatever game it was they were playing with each other, he just lost some serious points.

* * *

He was acting weird.

Mikan could not quite put her finger on it, but Natsume was definitely acting different.

He appeared to be the same, shooting insults at Tsubasa, glaring at people, especially Mr. Bear, but there was still something strange about him.

At weird times she would find him looking at her with an odd look on his face. At other times she would pick up this feeling from him that she would almost describe as giddy if it were from anyone else.

She had been quite embarrassed by her behavior in the water earlier and felt she needed to apologize or say something, but she just couldn't find a way to say anything. She might have just gone ahead and blurted it out, but he had been acting kind of sweet towards her this afternoon. He was almost playful even though they were free of the water's influence. Honestly, she did not want to ruin it by saying anything.

She ended up ruining the atmosphere by saying something anyway.

The afternoon was moving along and dinner was still a few hours away but a thought occurred to her. "Natsume, are we supposed to be having dinner with your grandfather today?" she asked. She seemed to recall mentioning something like that to his uncle Serio.

Her words were like a bombshell. All activity stopped on the beach and several people looked to Natsume in alarm. Natsume himself looked frozen stiff and she had the impression from him that he had forgotten about it as well.

"Shit." She heard him hiss under his breath. He looked hard at her. She could feel a riot of different things inside of him. It was like a war was being fought inside of him and she had no idea what was fighting what.

Tentatively, she moved closer to him. "Natsume?" she asked, unsure what was happening to him. Somehow she was sure she needed to help him.

His unusual garnet colored eyes looked at her, and the battle within him reached a quick conclusion. "No." she heard him mutter before he snatched her hand along with her and his bag and took off at top speed.

"Natsume! Wait! I can't run as fast as you!" she cried, stumbling and tripping behind him. He stopped long enough to pick her up and start running at an alarming speed.

"Natsume what are you doing?" she squeaked. The scenery was rushing past at a dizzying pace.

"We are getting out of here. There is something I want to show you." He said, but she could tell there was more to it than that.

Just where the heck was he dragging her off to anyway?

tbc

* * *

~*~

I admit I kept changing my mind about this chapter and whose perspective I wanted it from. I knew sooner or later I was going to have a POV from Tsubasa and Koko, but I wasn't sure if I wanted it to happen so quickly after the appearance of the sea dragons. I guess this was really the only spot to put it because this chapter marks the end of the casual happy fun.

So to recap, the Yukihira's are world class thieves and smugglers compared to the Kuonji assassins. Tsubasa will probably be in for a shock if he tries to convince Misaki to go on that moonlit swim with him because the water will be a bit more frisky in the moonlight. Sumire and Koko had a wild hot one night stand, and Natsume has just openly opposed his grandfather by stealing Mikan away.

Some of you might be worried that Koko is a bit out of character. To be honest, I'm not sure we ever really see Koko's true character. That smile he keeps on can hide a heck of a lot. I also keep wondering about his real name. I really don't like calling him 'mind reader' it feels weird. In his mini-bio (I think it is in volume 4 of the manga) Higuchi Tachibana says he does have a real name, she is just waiting for the right time to use it.

Anyway, I could not just have Koko chasing Sumire around because I don't think it would work. Sumire comes across as the type of girl who is attracted to strong alpha male types and if he chased her he would look weak. I needed him to have the strength of personality to go up against Sumire and not back down. I hope I managed to portray that. I really need a strong Koko.


	19. Chapter 19

Another very long, un-betaed chapter, so be forewarned.

* * *

A Dragon's Heart – Chapter 19

It was official. She had an alice. And not that weird nullifying thing either. No he was absolutely positive that she had the alice of making-him-do-stupid-dumbass-reckless things whenever he was around her. No matter how hard his brain was screaming at him to stop and turnaround, his feet refused to listen to it.

It had to be an alice because he was not this stupid and reckless. If he was, he'd be dead by now. No, this affliction only broke out with her close proximity. Like an allergic reaction. It was mere luck that he had put on a pair of sandals and a shirt at lunch because it was entirely likely he would have taken off even if he was barefoot and shirtless. _Crazy and stupid._

Natsume could try and justify his actions all he wanted, but to put it simply, he just wasn't ready to have Mikan anywhere near the king yet. For reasons that he was not ready to explore, he just felt there was something terribly wrong with having her anywhere near him.

"_Natsume!' _His brother yelled inside his head. _'What are you doing?'_

_Nothing… I-I don't know… I just…_ Natsume could not even put what he was feeling into words. It was just imperative that Mikan and the king not meet each other. It was a compulsion so strong he could not ignore it. He slightly pried the lid off those feelings and showed them to his brother with the hopes that the draman would understand better than Natsume did.

Thankfully his brother did not judge him or call him the idiot or any of the other things that he felt he was acting like. If anything, he felt a wash of sympathy and understanding from Luka. _"What do we tell Persona? Imai says he is coming our way.'_ He asked calmly even though Natsume knew he had to be worried. The only one who could really handle Persona was Natsume. Aoi might have been able to fill in a short time, but Persona had a pretty forceful personality that tended to just roll over Aoi's gentle nature. Not only that, but Luka and Aoi had been far too close lately, their scent was starting to mingle together. A fact that he could tell they were already panicking over.

At that point Natsume should have paused and turned around, but his gut and his feet kept him moving forward.

_Just… tell him the truth. That I took off with Mikan unexpectedly and you don't know where I've gone or when I'll be back._ Yeah right, like that will work. His uncle would have Luka contact him immediately to return. Crap what was he going to say? His mind felt like it was in disarray. He could not focus enough to think clearly. He definitely was having troubles making things up on the fly which was not like him at all.

'_Where are you going anyway?'_ Luka asked.

Natsume gave a mental sigh and made a quick decision. _The hot spring. Tell him I took her to the hot spring._

'_He may follow you.'_

_He might, but I doubt it. At least not tonight he won't._

'_Decided she was worth it little brother?'_ Luka asked with a light humor in his tone to hide his worry.

_Shut up._ He retorted without any heat. _I just… I just can't. I can't explain it. _

'_I know. Do what you have to do and get back quick.'_ Luka said quickly before his presence left Natsume's mind.

_What the hell am I doing? This is so stupid._ He told himself for the thousandth time. If Luka understood it, then Natsume wished his brother would have explained it to him.

Now that he was no longer just running away from his grandfather and had a destination in mind, his feet adjusted course accordingly. He tightened his hold on Mikan and picked up speed.

Mikan picked up the change in him. "Natsume? Where are we going?"

"We own a rather isolated hot spring. I thought we could go there."

Mikan nodded her understanding, but kept quiet. Actually, the hot spring was one of his favorite places. He was almost surprised he did not take her there sooner.

And because it was owned by the clan and had only a handful of very loyal staff, they would be virtually alone there. Natsume tried to ignore the way his stomach tightened at the thought of being alone with Mikan with no water spirits or family to interfere.

Maybe they could continue their flirtatious play from earlier.

Spurred on by that thought, they found themselves at the hot spring in almost record time. Mikan looked at the tiny building and was apparently quite underwhelmed. "Is this it?" she asked tentatively while examining the tiny building in with a dubious eye.

The inn was an old traditional style building that appeared to be in major disrepair. Well okay, it looked like a dump alright?

The wood looked faded and brittle, any paint on the exterior was chipping, and the overall structure looked like it could collapse at any second. Any random person passing by would certainly not find it inviting. A feeling that would be reinforced if they talked to the locals who would swear the place was cursed.

Not that the uninviting appearance kept everyone away. More than one local had tried to have it destroyed and more than a few investors had tried to purchase the land only to mysteriously give up after various failed attempts. This of course, reinforced the rumors that the building was somehow cursed.

Natsume knew full well what the place looked like but he still felt a bit miffed at her lack of appreciation for one of his most favorite places. "Were you expecting something else?"

She blinked at him and gave him an odd look "I don't know, I guess when I think of hot springs, I think of resorts and spas, not rickety old houses."

"This is an inn, and the hot spring belongs to the clan exclusively. We don't cater to spoiled, tourist, outsiders." He said pointedly and Mikan had the decency to look a bit ashamed at her attitude.

"Sorry, I just didn't know what to expect. So~o now that we are here, what now?" She asked in a light, singsong voice. Her demeanor had instantly changed to the hyper enthusiasm that he found so cute at the festival.

Not bothering to answer her, he guided her in and enjoyed her gasp of surprise. The outside may have been spelled to look old, rickety and uninviting, but the inside had been retrofitted for modern needs while still maintaining its traditional appearance.

Almost as soon as they walked through the door they were met by a striking blond woman along with a man and a younger woman both with silvery hair and wearing a faraway look in their eyes. "Master Hyuuga, we had foreseen your arrival today." Serina said while they bowed respectfully to him. She then turned her focus on Mikan, "Along with a very important guest."

The inn was mostly staffed by dramans or humans that were bound to the clan. They were also mostly gifted with various abilities to look into the past or future. To this day Natsume still could not figure out why the king kept them here and not close to his side. One would think that it would be advantageous to have a psychic near, but he kept them at a surprising distance. His best guess was it was because they were lesser creatures rather than dragons, but he knew better than to rely on assumptions.

A bit annoyed that he had to resume his role as clan heir, he nodded politely to Serina, Noda and Otonashi, prompting Serina to continue. "We have prepared everything for your arrival. Your room is ready and an early dinner will be served to you after you have cleaned up." One of the worst things about psychics is their tendency to know and do things before he acted on them. Sure it was nice that they had then onsen ready before he had even decided to come, but trying to have a conversation with them was enough to make him want to pull his hair out. Having someone answer questions he had yet to ask, and finish sentences he had yet to speak was maddening. He nodded again in their direction and briefly introduced Mikan to them before placing his hand on her lower back and directing her towards the bathing rooms.

Ugh, except the bathing rooms were segregated into men's and women's. He was rather tempted to follow her into the women's anyway, but Otonashi foresaw his intention and intervened by volunteering to show Mikan personally. With his attention on the two young women leaving, he almost missed it when Serina spoke again.

"After dinner, the others and I have made arrangements to stay elsewhere for the night. We have not anticipated that you will need anything else, but if circumstances change, you need only call."

That caused Natsume to stop in his tracks while Mikan and Otonashi continued on. The staff was leaving for the night and he would be totally alone with Mikan? Did that mean he would finally, _finally_ get to make love to her? Oh gods he hoped so. "Did you see something about her?" he asked, hating the way his voice cracked when he said it.

The woman moved closer to him in the swaying, dreamy, way psychics had. Like there was a tune only they could hear. It least Serina wasn't as bad as Otonashi who actually started dancing violently at odd moments. "You should be warned. What happens tonight will set the pace for the rest of your relationship with her. There are many possible outcomes and neither I nor any of the others can predict clearly what will happen. You may end up as lovers, acquaintances, strangers or even enemies."

Natsume was a little taken aback by that. He couldn't picture being enemies with Mikan. It was impossible. He was going to say something along those lines, but Serina answered his thought before he even had a chance to voice it in that frustrating way psychics had.

"Do not underestimate what her presence in Japan means. There is a part of her that she keeps locked away and refuses to accept, but it is the key to what you have been long waiting for." The blond psychic paused and Natsume concealed his irritation with a smooth mask. _Typical cryptic psychic mumbo-jumbo backtalk_ he thought to himself_._ As far as he was concerned, it was a long winded roundabout way of her saying he was lonely and needed to get laid. _Yeah, tell me something I don't know._

Eventually, she closed her eyes and started to breathe deeply. When she spoke, it was in the distant, airy tone that he recognized as her trying to use her gift. "You were wise to bring her here for she is not only a creature of water, but of fire as well. In this place fire and water live harmoniously and they will sing to her in a way that few others would understand." Again she paused and opened her eyes to give him a serious look. "You should be careful not to leave her alone in the water too long."

Shit. Again with the manipulative water? Was there anything that was not conspiring against him? "Are you saying the water will affect her in a bad way?"

"No. I'm saying the energy in the water might make her feel disoriented, weak, or perhaps even ill. Since we are leaving, you will have to take care of her and hopefully reinforce her trust in you. Good luck tonight."

At that moment, Otonashi emerged from the women's bathing rooms and walked up to Natsume. "Your guest is getting cleaned up right now and I gave her a quick tour of the facilities." She said simply and Natsume took that as his cue to go clean up himself.

Ten minutes later he emerged wearing a blue cotton yukata feeling better now that he was rid of any sand, salt water or sweat. Mikan came out several minutes later wearing a similar robe and her damp hair pulled into a pair of low loose pigtails. She spotted him and gave him a smile that warmed him to his toes and he wondered if they could just skip dinner altogether. Only she could pull off looking beautiful wearing pigtails and a robe that was just one step up from a belted blue sack. But he wasn't a fool. Of course, he was beginning to realize that she only needed to breathe for him to find her beautiful.

He was also beginning to realize that his favorite look for her was times like this when she was relaxed and smiled easily. The lust he always felt around her had mostly blended into the background noise, but at quiet times like these it sprang up and filled his mind with images of throwing her up against the nearest flat surface and tearing her clothes off so he could have his way with her.

She must have picked up the change in his mood because her bright smile faltered and the creamy skin of her cheeks stained pink.

_Gods she is so beautiful._ He thought with a hint of wonder.

"Ready for dinner?" he asked. His voice had gone husky with his wayward thoughts. Her cheeks remained tinted, but she still gave him a small smile.

"Not really. I feel like we just ate lunch." Natsume didn't say anything to that. He just nodded his head in agreement and guided her to the dining room.

Dinner went by in a rather fuzzy haze for him. He talked and ate but the only thing that felt real or clear to him was the woman across from him. He supposed this was what a date should feel like, but he was not exactly qualified to make that comparison. It did feel like there was a light, yet not uncomfortable tension in the air and it seemed to be affecting his mood. It felt like the air around them was re-charging itself, waiting for something. The calm before the storm.

Dinner passed quickly and before Natsume knew it, he was guiding her back towards the bathing rooms.

"Thank gods they are private baths and separate from the men's." He heard Mikan mutter to herself causing him to give her an evil grin.

"Oh? You do not trust yourself to keep your hands off of me?" he asked her smugly, causing her face to turn red.

"The one I don't trust is you. Otonashi explained the rules of this place, and there is no way I want to sit naked in a pool with you."

"Meaning you really do not trust yourself to keep your hands me." He said with that same evil grin.

"At least the pools are separate so I won't have to be around for your deluded perversion."

Oh they were separate alright, but he had no intention of bathing in the men's pool.

Not like he was going to tell her that though.

He took an excessively long time washing before getting ready to go into the hot spring. Mainly because he had to make sure Mikan had plenty of time to already be in the water and he could backtrack around and go in through the women's bathing rooms. Technically, he was strong and agile enough to hop the fence to the women's side, but since he only had a very small towel to cover himself with, he figured the more prudent action would be to walk around. The last thing he needed was to slip on a wet patch of floor and injure something… er… valuable.

Quickly and stealthily, he maneuvered his way out of the men's room and through the door of the women's pausing for a long moment to be sure she was not still in there. He strained his keen hearing as far as he could, and did not catch even the slightest sound of breathing. Ever so slowly, he crept in further, pausing long between footsteps to listen for any changes. Finally a sound did reach his ears, but it wasn't coming from the room.

He clearly heard the sound of a small splash followed quickly by a yelp of surprise by Mikan.

Concerned that she might have slipped, he sped up his movements. He quickly made it outside only to stop dead in his tracks.

Mikan was sitting at the edge of the hot spring pool with her knees folded up near her chest tentatively dipping a toe in the heated water. She was partially facing away from him, with her left profile exposed to him.

She also had a towel for modesty purposes, but for the moment other than the part she held against her breasts, the rest had gone slack and was pooled loosely at her hips. Her long hair was pinned up in a messy bun so he was treated to a completely unobstructed view of her smooth arms and shoulders. The fading light of day highlighted the curve of her neck, the slight flare of her hips and the flowing line of her back. Once again he was struck speechless by her.

_If she says no tonight I may have to kill myself _he thought, only half joking. Truth was he didn't think he could handle another rejection. If he was smart he would turn around and run back to the men's side, but has mentioned earlier he was prone to acts of major stupidity around her.

Instinctively, he started to move closer, his footsteps were virtually soundless, but she picked up his presence anyway. Her head quickly snapped in his direction and her luminous eyes managed to reflect surprise for just a moment before narrowing suspiciously at him.

"What do you think you are doing here?" she demanded. Natsume wisely chose not to answer, so she continued on. "You are supposed to be on the men's side! So shoo! Back to your own side!" she ordered while swatting the air with her hand at him.

"I'm here to make sure you are okay." He said and barely recognized the sound of his own voice, it had gone so raspy. Mikan picked up on his mood and he watched her telltale eyes turn cloudy and drop just for a moment to roam over his body before she blushed and looked quickly away. He felt her gaze as surely as if it had been a touch.

Out of nowhere he wondered idly if she was aware how much those eyes of hers gave away her thoughts. She would make the world's worst poker player. One look at those eyes and her opponents would know everything about her.

"I'm fine. I was just surprised by the heat of the water." She said in a somewhat strangled voice. "Now would you mind going to put something on? A pair of shorts or something? Or at least a bigger towel?" her voice was getting higher and more strangled with each passing word and he couldn't hide the smile that tugged at his lips.

"I thought you said Otonashi explained the rules to you. No clothes allowed in the water." He said teasingly. Some of his playful mood from this morning was returning and instead of leaving, he continued to walk across to cool stone to the water's edge adjacent to her.

The closer he moved towards her, the further she turned her head away from him until he was finally looking at the back of her head. He was sorely tempted to touch her soft looking shoulders but that would probably send her running.

Instead, he removed his towel and slipped into the water in one, graceful, fluid move.

The shocking temperature of the water didn't bother him like it would for Mikan or ordinary humans. Being a creature of fire, the volcanic energies that heated the water surrounded him and were absorbed into his very being. For air dragons, it was a giddy rush. Almost like soaking in a glass of champagne and getting tipsy from it.

He found himself a seat along the wall and emersed himself up to his neck. He paused for a moment to allow the rush of volcanic energy to soak in before turning back to teasing her. His mind drifted back to what Serena had told him about Mikan being a creature of fire and water and that the hot spring would feel different to her. But just as quickly as the thought entered his head, he let it leave. He knew he was entering dangerous territory, and that he should leave before things got too carried away.

He just wanted a little time to tease and flirt with her. _Some kissing and a little groping would be nice._

Out of sheer maliciousness he threw his discarded towel at her. The cloth hit her side and rolled harmlessly to the stone edge, but her reaction when she saw what she was hit with almost sent him in to fits of laughter. Her eyes goggled at the offensive piece of cloth and one would have thought it was a rotting dead carcass with the way she was looking at it. Too late, Natsume could not hold it in anymore and let out a deep chuckle.

Mikan's face turned beet red and she turned to shoot him a murderous look only realize she was glaring at a naked man. With a squawk, she quickly swiveled her head away from him and used her hand to act as a barrier between her eyes and his body. Entertained by her reaction to him, he leaned back against the edge in a casual pose.

Teasing her was just too much fun. "Still don't trust yourself to keep your hands off me?" he asked, oozing smug superiority. He couldn't see her eyes, but he did see the way her whole body stiffened and she tightened her hold on her towel. "Relax polka-dot panty girl, I'm sure I can fight you off if you get too frisky with me." He told her in a light, teasing tone, hoping he had not overplayed his hand. The very last thing he wanted to do was to send her bolting out of here.

On a more serious, but still light tone he added, "Seriously, you can relax. We have less than an hour to sunset and with the steam and the properties of the water the view is not exactly crystal clear. I'm just here because the staff has left for the day and some people get dizzy in the hot water."

Well, that was partly true anyway. Mostly, he was there because he really did want to be in the same spot as she was while naked. Really, what healthy male could pass up an opportunity like that? Definitely not him.

"I'm a sea dragon. I can handle myself in the water. I don't need your help." She sat still for several minutes deep in thought. Eventually, she extended one slim leg and carefully dipped her foot into it. She let out a hiss and he couldn't tell if it was from shock or discomfort. Maybe a little of both.

"The water feels strange." She said quietly.

"It's the energy heating the water. This place has been attracting dragons for millennia. The hot spring is saturated with rejuvenating fire energy." It was probably the reason why it was one of his most favorite places. When he was here, all his worries disappeared for a short while and he felt connected to the fire that ran so deeply within him.

Beside him, Mikan had extended her other foot and was easing it into the steaming water. She let out the tiniest squeak, but other than that she made no sound. The sun had yet to set so he could see the way her cheeks were already starting to turn pink. Perhaps the water would prove to be too hot for her. Her body temperature already ran much cooler than his. Natsume tried to stretch out his energy and pick up on her feelings, but they were a chaotic mess. He was just thinking of telling her to enter the water slowly, when she ordered him to turn around.

"What?"

"Turn around, I'm going in and I don't want you to look." She gave him a determined look and he noticed how her eyes refused to drop below his chin. In her eyes he could see nothing but determination. There was no way she was getting in the water if he did not turn around. Rolling his eyes at her, he stood up and faced away from her not liking the loss of heat to the upper half of his torso.

With soft lapping sounds, he heard Mikan slip into the water only to utter a quiet "Oh!" when she was in.

He did not consciously turn around. It was more of an instinctive reaction to her sound of surprise only to find himself staring at her smooth, bare back as she stood facing away from him, waist deep in the water.

His hormones and lust kicked into overdrive so fast he felt a bit dizzy himself and he realized he had made a terrible mistake sneaking into the women's hot spring. The dragon within him that he could barely keep dormant around her had surged to the forefront. He may not have transformed, but he could feel it in him, like a cat crouching, waiting to pounce on its prey.

_Shit._ Forget his games and plans to tease and flirt with her. There was no way he was going to make it out of this water alive and sane.

With unsteady footing, Mikan slowly pivoted in the water to look at him. Thankfully, she still held her arms close to her body covering her chest. He wouldn't know what to do if she was topless and uncovered. He slowly moved his hands in front of him. The water might not be crystal clear, but he was standing which meant his reaction to her was not as well hidden as it was sitting.

Wait.

Something wasn't right.

Her face had an allover flushed glow about it. It looked like she was blushing and sweating and glowing all at once. Her pupils were so heavily dilated her eyes looked black with a brown and green flecked rim around them. Her cute, pouty mouth was partly open and he could hear the shaky passage of air into it.

"Are you alright?" He asked cautiously, his concern barely winning over his need to flee to safety.

Mutely, she nodded at him and that made him worry more. "Do you feel sick?" again she said nothing, only shaking her head no in response. "Is the water too hot for you?" he asked again and again he got a head shake although it was slower than the last one. Her expression had a dazed quality about it, like she was drunk or high. Damn it, he needed to get out and away from her right now.

She took a wobbly step forward and he saw her cheeks were no longer pink, but red and he started to worry more. "I'm going to get you a cold towel and glass of water." _And maybe a cold shower for myself._

Slowly turning away from her, he moved to exit the water, but her voice froze him to the spot.

"You have an unusual dragon stain." He didn't need her to tell him what his stain looked like. He already knew it was unusual. It was red, and fanned out across his shoulder blades like tiny wings.

"I know." He answered, hoarsely. He had to get out of here quick. He needed to be out of here five minutes ago. For the first real time in his life he could feel the dragon lust boiling under his skin threatening to drive him insane. If he didn't leave soon, he might do something they would both regret later.

"It's very nice." she said while moving closer. She was now right behind him and his whole body had gone rigid against his will. He could feel her breath on his back as she exhaled. A second later he felt her fingertips running along his stain with feathery touches.

A strangled sound escaped his throat and he clenched his shaking fists tightly. _I've got to get out. I've got to get out NOW! If I don't I could do something horrible or painful to Mikan. I've got to get out. _

"I really like the way they look like wings." She continued in a husky, yet dreamy tone. At any other time he would have pointed out that hers looked like a serpent coiled around her spine, but words were currently failing him. Right now he was using all of his willpower to try and move from the spot he was rooted to.

_MOVE NATSUME, MOVE!_ He screamed silently to himself. His feet and legs were beyond his control. They might as well have been on another body for the control he had over them. All he could get to move was his arms and with them he reached behind himself to snatch her questing hands away and to pull them out to the sides. Far away from his over sensitized body.

"Mikan, you need to go." He said and his voice had transformed into something deep and gravely. Something dangerous.

"Hmm?" the sound of her voice pulled at his already unraveling sanity. To hell with his pride, he was just going to spell it out to her. It was better than the pent up violence within him.

"Mikan, you were right. I did have a motive for bringing you here, but I'm giving you this chance to back out and leave now." He told her harshly.

"Oh?" was all she said and his restraint slipped a little further. He couldn't do this. He needed her too badly. He had been waiting too long. If she was going to run, she needed to run now.

"Please, run." He whispered. The hands holding hers at his sides were shaking, his pulse was racing, and he was panting like he had run a marathon. _Gods, please run Mikan._

The soft feel of a pair of lips on his dragon stain caused the last thread of his sanity to snap.

He whirled around in the water, grabbed her, and pulled her up against him. Her legs instinctively wrapped around his waist and his mouth was on hers before he could take another breath. He growled darkly into the kiss.

_Mikan, Mikan, Mikan, Mikan_ her name went over and over in his head like a fervent prayer. His whole world consisted of her and him now. Even the water he was standing in was too distant for him to be aware of.

Their intimate embrace placed him so close yet so maddeningly far away from where he so needed to be. _Mikan, I'm so sorry, I've waited too long, I need you now. I promise next time I'll be better. Next time, I promise._ He swore, using up the last residue of sanity in him. And with one quick violent movement, he drove himself home.

…

It was quite possibly the most perfect moment of his life. He had never felt more complete or more right than he did at that moment.

But even saying that there was one rather glaring flaw to his piece of heaven.

No matter how aroused he was, and still was for that matter, he could not miss or ignore the pained yelp that had punched through his blissful haze.

By now every instinct he had was screaming at him to move and finish what he started. To ignore what he must have imagined as impossible, but his body and mind had bore evidence to the contrary. Blinking away the graying edges to his vision he forced his eyes to focus on the woman in his arms.

The sight was unable to kill off his arousal; hell, not even a nuclear attack could have done that. But what he did see caused his stomach to drop to his feet. His mind still wanted to flatly reject what he was seeing and feeling, but there was no way he could lie to himself that well.

Instead of the flushed glowing face she had a few moments ago, Mikan's face was now pale, her eyes scrunched up tightly, and her breath was hissing between tightly clenched teeth. Her whole body was so tensed up she felt like stone in his arms rather than soft pliant flesh. Even her energy had tightened and tensed around her protectively with flashes and arcs of pain that he could feel like static discharges against his own energy.

"Mikan?" he said tentatively with a hint of pleading. How? How could this be possible?

She didn't open her eyes at him. Instead she kept them closed tightly, but at least she did answer him. "Just give me a moment." She hissed. "The water is helping somewhat" she said in a strained voice.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"What difference does it make now?" she bit out painfully.

He wanted to tell her he could have been gentler, but that would have been a gross lie. He was so far gone –was still too far gone- to be able to control himself even if he knew she was a virgin.

Damn it! Even his sister wasn't one! He had never even heard of a dragon remaining a virgin past puberty. They were not like normal hormone driven humans. Their instincts were on a whole different level. It was a basic and elemental need in them. Sensuality and lust were a part of dragon nature. He would have hated it, but he would have understood her having past lovers.

But her being untouched was totally unexpected. Even now he was having difficulty wrapping his mind around it. He could not even begin to guess how she even managed it. Questions flooded his mind and he would damn well get answers to but he did not have time for them now.

Later though, much later.

Gently and lovingly, he kissed every part of her face trying to will the tense lines away from it. The water must have helped somewhat because he felt the muscles protesting his invasion let up by the smallest fraction. She might not be in any intense pain anymore, but she was a hell of a long way from enjoying herself. _Mikan, sweetheart, I wish you had told me. I never wanted to hurt you. I promise I'll make it up to you._

Shit. Even as he was promising to make sure she would have pleasure tonight, he knew it would not be this time. He might have been able to force his body to hold still for a few seconds, to give her a chance to adjust, but his restraint rapidly vanishing. Little Natsume, who was quite ecstatic with his new home regardless of the discomfort he brought Mikan, was demanding he start moving again and the dragon in him was starting to add his own urgent rumblings.

As alarmed as he was, the dragon in him was practically screaming to the universe a harsh bugle of possessive victory at finally having Mikan and knowing that no other man had. She was his and his alone. She would never be anyone else's.

The longer he held still though, the more impatient and agitated his dragon became. If he did not start moving soon, he would go berserk and he knew it. Even now he did not know where he was finding the will for even this much restraint. He _needed_ more than anything, more than his next breath; he needed to finish claiming the woman that he now flatly considered his.

He leaned his forehead against hers and took a deep breath. "Mikan, I need you to focus on me."

"You're a little hard to ignore at the moment." She snapped, and he would have laughed if he wasn't wound so tight and on the verge of breaking.

"I mean what I'm feeling. Mikan feel me. Feel what you are to me." He was fairly sure their bond worked both ways. With any luck he could give her his pleasure. It was the best he could offer for now.

Natsume felt Mikan's energy lightly brush against his and he quickly latched on to it. He meshed and wove them together so tightly he almost could not feel the difference between them. Across the net he fed his overwhelming need for her. He heard her let out a soft gasp before his willpower gave out.

He slammed his lips against hers and allowed his body to move freely.

Natsume would love nothing more than to say he was an expert lover and that he brought Mikan endless amounts of pleasure, but the truth was he had been hovering on the brink for the last two days. And now that he finally had what he so desperately wanted, he didn't last much more than a few exquisite minutes before he broke the night air with a loud roar and went temporarily blind.

Reality slowly crept back into his awareness and he was rather surprised to find he was still standing in the same spot. He was lucky he did not drown them both.

With legs as steady as a newborn colt, he wobbled over to the edge where their towels lay. He took one hand off of her long enough to spread them out over the stone in a half-hazard mat which he gently laid her upper torso on while still keeping their lower halves joined.

He was suddenly aware that had never even had a chance to appreciate how she looked in the nude. He was tempted to look and explore, but he had a more pressing concern at the moment.

His lover was still looking a bit dazed and although she no longer looked in pain, her face showed only a shadow of the flushed glow from earlier. He continued to watch as her breathing evened out and she became more aware of her surroundings. He knew the exact moment she fell back to reality because she looked up at him and he felt her whole body tense again. He endured that slight insult, but was annoyed by the way she turned her head away, refusing to look at him. After only a few seconds a small crease appeared between her brows and she squirmed slightly. From their still partially merged energy he could clearly pick up feelings of embarrassment and awkwardness.

"Whatever you have going on behind those pretty eyes of yours, stop it now." He commanded. His words surprised her enough for her to forget that she was avoiding making eye contact and look at him.

"Huh?" she asked rather stupidly. He could understand her lack of words. He was having trouble gathering all of his wits back together again.

"You crazy, hyperactive, troublesome, polka-dot panty wearing girl, I don't know what you have going on in that head of yours, but I can already tell I don't like it. So knock it off."

She frowned up at him and started trying to squirm away from him more. "Typical guy. Goes right back to acting like a jerk once he gets what he wants." She muttered loud enough to hear.

Was she just determined to ruin this moment? Like hell he was going to let her.

He tightened his grip on her hips and with only her upper half on solid ground while the rest was being held by him in the water; she had no leverage or ability to maneuver away from him. If anything, her tiny movements were creating some interesting sensations for him because they were still coupled. At this rate he would be ready to go again before he got any answers.

He started to lean forward, and his movements caused her to stop and give him a wary look. Natsume leaned over and lightly kissed the crinkle between her eyebrows causing her to give him a confused look. "Who are you to say what men are like? Last time I checked, the sum of your lovers came to a grand total of one. Me." And it would bloody well stay that way if he had anything to say about it. "Now start explaining." He ordered.

Mikan scoffed at him and rolled her eyes. "What is there to explain we… did… it. End of story." She said awkwardly causing him to snort at her.

"Tch, you're not such a grown up woman after all are you? You know if you are _doing it_ you should at least have the guts to _say it_ little girl." He said mockingly.

Red blossomed on her cheeks and she looked at him like he had just slapped her. With that glare of hers that looked as dangerous as a hissing kitten, she crossed her arms over her breasts. "Fine! We had sex! Happy? Now let me go!" she spat at him.

"You know, you are developing a real bad habit of trying to run away whenever you are in my arms. I'm going to have to do something about that, but right now what I want to know is why. Why here? Why now?"

"What difference does it make?" she asked, but he answered with a very dark look. _Just answer the question before I wring it out of you._ Again, she rolled her eyes at him as if she felt the answer was none of his business. "Alright fine, I don't really know why. I admit I was thinking about it before, but I wasn't planning to do anything. But then I got in the water… and somehow I just felt all relaxed and tingly… like… "

"Like you were drunk?" he offered, feeling a bit pissed that her element was interfering again. Although he was partially to blame, he knew the water could have an effect on her.

She gave him an odd look, but continued "Kind of, but it wasn't like I was impaired or anything. I just felt… free. Like all of my worries just disappeared. I just couldn't understand why I was still resisting you. You were kind of sweet and tried to be noble by telling me to leave."

"I wasn't being noble, I was giving a warning."

"Somehow my reasons just didn't feel that important anymore. It just felt like the right thing to do." She finished lamely with a little frown back on her face. She turned her head away from him and began trying to squirm again. "So I told you, can you let me go now?"

"No."

"But aren't you… you know… done?" she asked awkwardly, and he was tempted to laugh in her face. Was he done? Not hardly.

"Why would I waste my time letting you go when we are just going to end up back in this same position? Better to save a few steps and stay right where I am." Yes, little Natsume was quite happy where he was. So much so that he was starting to get worked up for another round.

"What?"

"I'm nowhere even close to finished with you. What I have planned for you will probably take most of the night." He warned, and adjusted his grip on her hips so he could hold her with one arm while he used the other to pull her crossed arms away from her breasts. He pulled one away the other moved over to cover her up again. He nudged the other hand but it wouldn't budge. "Stop that. Who do you think you are hiding from?"

Slowly and with great reluctance she lowered her protective arms and held them stiffly at her sides, ready to cover them up at the slightest negative word from him. By now the sun had set and her skin was glowing with the moonlight and her cheeks were back to a cute embarrassed pink color.

"You really are quite beautiful." The words slipped out of his mouth before he had a chance to censor them.

The pink in her cheeks deepened and she looked away again. "No I'm not. I've got boring brown hair and eyes, I'm not that smart, I have the figure of a chopstick and weird magic to top it off."

Annoyed, he flicked her hard in the forehead causing her to let out a yell of protest and do her hissing kitten thing again. Ooo scary.

"Idiot. I don't make a habit of paying people compliments so don't argue with me when I give you one. As for your figure, I'll tell you three truths about breasts. One: if a woman is lying on her back as you are and they are defying gravity by pointing in the air, she bought them." That caused her lips to twitch into a small smile. "Two: women who have large breasts when they are young almost always end up with a huge butt to match." When he said that, she let out a giggle and most of the self-conscious tension in her melted away.

"And lastly," he said with his voice dropping a little lower as he leaned into her, "small breasts are incredibly sensitive." To prove his point, he pursed his lips and blew a stream of air at her chest.

Her response was instant. She let out a sound that fell somewhere between a strangled shriek and a shocked gasp. Her back arched off the ground and the area she had been trying to hide from him earlier responded quite eagerly to his attention. If that was how she reacted to a short burst of air, he could just imagine what a touch would be like. The idea made his already stirring body spring back to full life.

Natsume silently vowed to himself that he would find every sensitive and responsive part of her body before the night was over. There was no way he was going to be satisfied until her pleasure matched his.

* * *

~*~

The morning sun was making the room far too bright. He wanted to sleep some more, he had earned it. Last night was an enlightening experience for both of them. For Mikan, obviously because of her total inexperience, but for Natsume as well because up until last night he had never had to employ any tricks or techniques for seduction. Sex was always a sure thing for him. He had of course heard and read things, so he knew theoretically what he needed to do, but theory and practice are two completely different things. There were times last night where he kind of felt like it was his first time too.

He did not get too exotic for their first time. There were a few things he had always wanted to try but he wanted to pleasure her, not freak her out. Besides he was in no rush, there would be plenty of time to try new things with his mate.

_Mate._

In the small hours of morning, just after he had finally got her to scream his name in ecstasy, he finally accepted the truth he had been denying all along. Mikan was his mate_._ No other woman would ever do for him now. The thought of another woman was distasteful. The thought of her with another man made him want to slaughter something. His need for her was insatiable. After last night his lust should have gone into a long hibernation, but he was already craving her again.

Still refusing to open his eyes, he sleepily reached over to her and found the spot vacant. That had him opening his eyes real quick regardless of the obscenely bright sunlight.

"Mikan?" he mumbled and pushed out his energy to see if he could pinpoint her with their bond.

Something wasn't right.

Something was very wrong.

He stretched his awareness as far as it would go and could not find her anywhere. She wasn't in the bathroom or the kitchen or outside in the hot spring.

_Where the hell is she?_

Tbc

* * *

Oo~kayyy I think I managed to push the 'no NC-17 graphic sex scenes' rule to its limits. Hopefully I did not disappoint, offend, traumatize or mentally scar anyone.

Anyway, I hope everyone has or had (depending on your location) a nice spring break. Things are getting pretty busy for me so all I can say is that I hope to have the next chapter up in about a week.


	20. Chapter 20

**The following chapter comes with and extra warning**: this chapter contains a violent sexual scene. If you are young or sensitive to this you may wish to skip this chapter. You could probably catch up well enough in the next one.

* * *

A Dragon's Heart – Chapter 20

_Faster, faster, s_he told herself and her feet managed to reluctantly shuffle forward a few meters.

Inside, her brain was running around in its own logic loop and refused to yield anything helpful. She did not want to do this. But she had to do this. She was here to do this. But she wanted to run back and climb into bed with Natsume.

Well, that wasn't right. Natsume was not in bed anymore. He was following her.

Mikan still could not explain or understand much about the weird link she had with Natsume but she had known the exact moment he had woken up and found her gone.

Even from a distance she had felt the roiling emotions in him. First there was alarm, which was quickly replaced by worry, and at that point she had very nearly turned around and ran back to him to soothe his fears. It had taken every ounce of her strength in her to keep her feet facing forward and not go running back.

_Gods I'm so pathetic_. After several minutes of worry, from him of which she could only guess he was trying to look for her, she felt a flare of denial followed closely by a huge wave of anger and hurt. The feelings of betrayal caused her knees to buckle and made her stagger in her course. Even now the feelings from him weighed heavily on her making her move even slower.

At this rate, he would catch her in no time. _My body is probably secretly sabotaging my escape._ She thought with a weird twist to her lips.

_I'm so sorry._ She miserably said to Natsume in her head, not that it mattered. _He probably hates me now. I can't say as I really blame him._ She thought rather sullenly to herself. Honestly, she was not too happy with herself right now either. She had felt the very moment he had figured out that she had snuck away from him while he was still asleep. But instead of him going home like she hoped, he was following after her and getting closer.

_When did things become such a mess? _ She wondered for the hundredth time that morning and she felt the familiar itch behind her eyes start that warned her she would start pouring out useless tears again if she didn't pull herself together.

"_Tch, you're not such a grown up woman after all are you?"_ Natsume's words last night continued to mock her. Nope, she definitely did not feel grown up right now.

Gods, everything had been so clear to her before he showed up. As she dragged the lead blocks she called her feet forward, she tried to remember all the reasons why she was doing this. Why was she doing this again? It had been getting harder and harder to remember.

Oh right, her parents.

Mikan had been dreaming of going to Japan for more than half her life. Ever since she was old enough to understand the idea of death and that her parents were dead she had been trying to find answers. Answers that no one in America had.

When she was younger, she used to ask all sorts of questions about them and in typical adult behavior, they evaded her and told her a bunch of half-truths to keep her quiet. Of course, with little Mikan being her normal curious Mikan self, nothing ever kept her quiet for long. The questions kept coming and the older she got the less the answers made sense. Eventually, she cornered her grandparents and got as much of the truth out of them that they knew. Or a better way to say it was how little they knew, because they almost knew nothing.

That was when the nightmares started.

When a dragon dies they need someone to pray to the gods to guide their departing soul to the forever plains. Without it, their soul would aimlessly wander forever in limbo, unable to reunite with their loved ones. Or in the case of her parents, their true love.

For months after finally being told the truth she would have nightmares of her mother and father, whose faces she had only seen in photos, endlessly searching for each other. She already knew that her family had prayed for their souls but she would still dream of them adrift in the afterworld constantly needing the other and cursed to forever be apart. On rare nights when she did not dream of that, she would dream of a great nameless shadow. A shadowy blob that was strong enough to kill her father and scare her mother into swimming through the hazardous ocean currents while she was heavily pregnant with Mikan.

If her grandparents thought that was the end of her questions, they quickly found out that they were wrong. Now her need to find out what happened had begun to border on obsession. For reasons she could never properly explain, she was dead sure that she needed to go to Japan. That she was _needed_ there. She had begun trying to find out all she could about Japan and its mystical beings.

When Tsubasa had roped his friend Kaname into creating a language spell so he could pass his Spanish test, Mikan was quick to use it for Japanese. Okay so she used it to pass her French and Spanish classes too, but primarily, she wanted to learn Japanese.

Mikan's preparations for visiting Japan were quite similar to how others in her family would plan and prepare for one of their thieving or smuggling jobs. She had wrung as much information as she could about Japan from her relatives and was trying to convince her grandparents to go when they came down hard on her.

Mikan had always thought that because Izumi was their son they would obviously want to go and find answers with her. So it came as quite a shock when they flatly refused to go and forbid her to go as well. How could they not want to find out what happened to their own son?

According to them, they had already put out some discreet inquiries through friends of friends and had found that Japan's mystical underworld had been undergoing a rather massive political upheaval. Whole clans were being taken over or wiped out; many mystical creatures had made a mass exodus from there and never looked back. As far as Mikan was concerned, that was all the more reason to find out what had happened. According to her grandparents however, that was all the more reason to not risk anyone else in their family.

After that Mikan had to keep quiet and wait. But that did not stop her from planning, of course. Oh no, she kept on planning, but now she had to keep her plans to herself. Admittedly, it was a lot more difficult than she expected. With her family always treating her like a baby incapable of functioning on her own and the unfortunate complication of several local air dragons taking an unhealthy interest in her, her family had been keeping an almost constant watch on her. It was really only now that she had any chance of getting away from them.

She had a right to know who she was and where she came from. She had a right to demand answers and justice or at the very least closure and possibly to properly lay them to rest. She would show everyone that she was not some helpless child that needed to be coddled and smothered and hidden away.

And then _he_ showed up and made everything complicated.

From the moment she had left his side so very early this morning, she had felt miserable about it. And it wasn't just an emotional thing either. Along with guilt, one of the first things she noticed was how cold she felt. Being a sea dragon, she was supposed to be able to handle a little chill, especially in early summer. But then again being next to Natsume was so warm. The man was like a walking sun he gave off so much heat. And now the further she walked away from him, the colder she felt. She was fairly sure her teeth would start chattering soon. For the past hour she had felt like ice had been settling into her veins along with the lead blocks she called her feet. Her stomach felt twisted and nauseous and she had champion headache to top it off. It was safe to say she felt horrible. As if her whole body was protesting her current actions.

Yeah, well she found out last night what happened when she let her body do what it wanted.

A tiny flicker of heat seeped into her body and limbs as she remembered some of the more intimate parts of last night. She still could not believe she had slept with him! _Well, sleeping probably wasn't the appropriate term_. The only one who got any sleep was Natsume, but it had been too sweet and intimate to just call it sex. _Love making?_ Well, she supposed so, but she was fairly sure Natsume would hardly see it that way. He would probably use something more vulgar like… _fucking_ she thought with a small cringe.

_Bleh,_ even just thinking about that word and what they had shared felt yucky and weird. Last night meant a lot to her. More than the fact that it was her first time. The truth was she wanted him to be her first. She wanted him to be her last for that matter, but she doubted that was going to happen. Sure the energies swirling through the water and through her might have sped things up a bit. Maybe it made her more inclined to let mind take a backseat while her body did the driving, but she was a grown up enough to admit that she was in control enough to stop him at anytime but she chose not to.

In the end, nothing happened that she did not want to happen. It warmed her to remember how he had been so incredibly considerate in trying to make it special for her. She may not have much experience in the romance department, but she was well aware of the fact that men did not always care if their partner had any pleasure. Natsume had made sure that last night was a memory that she would always treasure.

It was not until afterwards when she was lying next to him in bed that she started to get angry with herself.

Mikan was not here for a vacation romance with a cute local. One that could possibly be connected with whoever or whatever brought about her parents death. Her parents deserved better than that. The longer she lay there in bed the angrier she became with herself until finally she slipped away to finish what she started. At the time she reasoned that Natsume would not be all that upset by her leaving, if anything, he would probably be relieved.

How many times had she watched her uncles –or on occasion, aunts, and even a few cousins like Sumire- stroll into the house at breakfast time after a wild night out? They would boast about their various conquests with each other over pancakes, replaying details that Mikan would have rather not been privy to. If there was one common thread that she had learned, it was that the guy was always relieved to be rid of the girl after he had her. The chasing and the wanting were always better than the having. Natsume should be glad she did not get all clingy.

_Trust Natsume to be difficult and not follow the rules._

Once again Mikan had to remind her legs to keep moving forward. She was being childish and she knew it. Natsume deserved better than her leaving like she did but it was too late to go back now. He was already angry with her. Although why he bothered following her was a mystery.

"_Tch, you're not such a grown up woman after all are you?"_ the words echoed in her head again making her cringe.

Now if she could just get to some water, she would be free and clear and he would probably give up. At the moment she was stuck on some sort of overgrown, grassy back road that looked more like a trail. She was surrounded by trees on all sides, which was fine with her since she did not really want to be seen right now. Although given the number of rocks and roots that her heavy feet had already tripped on, she was starting to wish she had not chosen to avoid the roads. Not only that, but in several hours she would need to be in water again. The one thing she obviously could not return to was the ocean because that was where his clan lands were. Maybe she could find a town and catch a bus or taxi ride from there.

The young woman was trying to muddle her way out of her dilemma when her toes got caught up on yet another rock causing her to stumble to the ground. Because she was only in shorts and a t-shirt, she had a rather impressive collection of scrapes and bruises on her knees, arms and hands by now. _As if I needed anything to make me feel worse._ It would probably start raining next, although that would probably be a benefit to her, so maybe not.

Mikan got up, brushed herself off and started plodding forward again. She managed to get about twenty steps before she stumbled again but this time it was no rock or root that caused her to falter. Natsume was closing in on her. She was sure of it.

She made a half-hearted attempt to get her legs to pick up speed but that only resulted in something more akin to a drunken stagger than a run. With a growing feeling of unease, she looked up at the canopy of leaves above her, doubting that they would hide her if he recklessly opted for his dragon form.

Again she stumbled, this time due to a small dip in the ground and she grabbed on to a tree branch in order to stay on her feet. As the terrain became more unsteady, she was forced to watch the ground before her feet more and more to avoid falling. Because her attention was divided on walking and wondering where Natsume was, she did not notice the small clearing of trees until she was on top of it.

And there, across the clearing, stood Natsume, waiting for her as if he had been there for hours.

"Natsume." She whispered.

He was standing with his back leaning against the trunk of a tree with his arms crossed giving her an ambiguous look. His eyes were partially hooded, but she would be a fool if she did not believe his focus was entirely on her. With as much dignity as she could muster, she straightened her back and tried to walk casually into the clearing. It was not easy since the feelings of hurt and betrayal that had been weighing so heavily on her before were now scorching and stabbing at her making her want to drop to the ground and vomit all over it. It would be a wonder if her skin did not start blistering and bleeding because of his look.

Trying to summon up her courage, she gave him a smile that was probably more sickly than cheerful. "Natsume." She said with false enthusiasm. "Fancy meeting you here."

He did not even twitch an eyelash at her. He just stood there waiting for her to do something, staring at her with eyes that saw right through her. She was halfway across the clearing by now and the negative energy coming off of him was suffocating her. It hung in the air like a miasma and she almost could not move through it. "Is there something you want?" she asked in a shaking voice.

With that he pulled away from the tree trunk and started prowling towards her. She very nearly bolted in the other direction. "What I want to know is if it was fun for you." He said, with a dark and bitter tone.

"Fun?" she squeaked. What part of this seemed fun to him?

"Was it fun watching me make a fool of myself over you?" he clarified, and she failed to notice that the bitterness was directed at both her and him.

At first she was at a loss for words. The only one making a fool of themselves around here was her. She wished she had more experience with men because she really didn't know how to handle situations like this. Floundering desperately, she reached out for someone else's logic. The same logic she had been trying to use and comfort herself with. The logic that told her he should be relieved to be rid of her.

"Really Natsume," she tried for a lighthearted tone "I don't see where the problem is. We are both consenting adults with no previous attachments. As a man one would think you would be relieved. After all it's just se-" The sentence never got finished, but the last word hung in the air like she had said it. _Sex_.

Instead, her words were choked off by a hand wrapping around her throat dragging her down to slam her back into the ground. The impact was hard enough to make her see stars.

"Finish that sentence! I dare you!" He snarled at her, his voice barely passing for a human's "It's just _**sex**_ is it? Is that what you want to say?" He growled, using a rather ugly emphasis on the word she never got to say. The hand around her throat was used to keep her pinned to the ground but she would not dare move. At this close distance she was able to get a good look at his face and eyes. Whoo boy, she was in real trouble_._

Natsume was losing control of his dragon.

Along with his voice change, his pupils had turned into long slits and the red color had intensified and was leaching out to encompass the whole eye. His hands were starting to resemble claws, and several of his teeth were growing to very long points. The skin around the collar of his shirt was becoming mottled red patches as his dragon stain spread. The only way he could pass for human right now is if the observer was three quarters blind and looking at him from a distance.

If she were a normal girl, she would be screaming her head off in terror right about now.

Damn her and her traitorous body if she wasn't a little turned on just by the fact that he was pressed close against her. To make matters worse, she was still a dragon and the dragon within her was attracted to strong males. His little show of aggression regardless of his demonic appearance was making her purr excitedly. Since when did she become so sick and twisted?

Natsume was stretched out on top of her with one hand still around her throat and one thigh pressed between hers. His face was so close that every exhalation he hissed could be felt on her face. Even if she wanted to say something to defend herself, the grip on her throat made it hard to speak. She was going to end up with some ugly bruises after this, but she found herself not caring. Water could take care of it when the time came. Right now the only thing that held her focus was her lover.

At this close range, with their energies touching and as much physical contact as they had, Mikan could painfully tell he was no longer in his right mind and it burned her alive to know it. The guilt burned at her because she could feel his pain. Somehow without intending to, she had hurt him enough to force his more primal identity to lash out at the source of his pain. Which was evidently her, but now that they were close, there was another kind of burning and it was growing stronger in both of them.

Having lost control to his dragon and being pressed against her, Natsume was rapidly sliding into dragon lust. She could feel the change in his energy, the building tension sparked with violent flares inside of him. It should have burned her alive, but instead it called to her own dragon.

A mate calling a mate and Mikan could not have resisted the call even if she had been the least little bit inclined to.

When Mikan did not answer his question, Natsume spoke up again. "Is that what you wanted to say? Hm?" he asked with his no longer human sounding voice. He lowered his head so he was near her earlobe. She could hear him taking in deep inhaling breaths of her scent and he emitted a deep gravely hum. In return, she found herself doing something similar. It was hard not to smell him with him this close. His scent was spicy and a little sweet and she felt a strong urge to bite him.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she felt the hand that was holding her neck suddenly leave long enough to fly up her t-shirt, shove her bra aside and maul the soft flesh under it. Her whole body bucked in response, but Natsume must have mistaken her actions as an attempted escape.

"What's wrong?" he hissed darkly into her ear, "I thought this was just sex? Surely one more round won't make a difference?" he asked then dragged his tongue along her nape. By now his voice was a low grumble filled with menace and intent.

She could tell he was sinking fast into the dragon lust and he was dragging her down with him. There was still a small part of her that was afraid of him because she knew the Natsume now was capable of a lot more than the Natsume from several hours ago. But she was not the Mikan from several hours ago either. She knew now what his body could do to hers and even in this violent state, she wanted him.

And although she could never properly explain it, she trusted him.

She trusted that he would never seriously hurt her, even while under the influence of dragon lust. She was not some weak human. She could handle -wanted to handle- whatever he could give.

His wayward hand left her top to drop to her shorts. By now it had no patience with fasteners like buttons or zippers. A set of claws, a sharp painful jerk, followed by a telltale ripping sound, and her shorts along with her underwear, were history.

Up around her head, Natsume was running a trail of abrasive kisses along her neck and shoulder. They might have been tender if it were not for the fact that some of his teeth were no longer shaped for a human mouth. His fangs scraped and scored at her skin with every kiss. It was like a sensation within a sensation that made the experience all the more heightened.

Her arms had been lying uselessly on the ground by her sides until now. Not that they would have done her any good, even if she could have pushed him off and ran, that would have just excited the predator in him more. Instinctively, she moved one hand to rake through his hair while the other clutched tightly at his shoulder, her nails digging deep. Natsume let loose a guttural groan and was completely taken over by his dragon's lust.

Mikan had just enough time to weave together their energies before everything blended into this massive haze of mutual need. A need that was speckled with flashes of rough, even brutal aggression. For once in her life Mikan was glad she was not a normal woman because it was unlikely she would have survived. She felt like she was hovering on the razor edge between pleasure and pain. But because it was Natsume she was with, and because she needed and trusted him, because she had come to care deeply about him, she stayed firmly on the ecstasy side of that line.

Finally, Mikan let out a scream that probably scared every living thing in a kilometer radius. Her scream was followed closely by a satisfied growl from him before they collapsed in a heap gasping for air.

It took a few minutes for the pair of them to recollect their wits after that adventurous ride. Mikan almost regretted her returning awareness because she felt a bit bruised and battered. She vaguely recalled her uncle Akira or 'Tono' as they liked to call him, talking over breakfast one time about the 'wild cat' he had been dating. At the time Mikan did not quite understand the reference, but she sure did now.

Still partially on top of her, Natsume started to stir. She could tell from his energy that he was still a little dazed, but was quickly coming back to himself. He levered himself up on both palms to look down at her with glassy eyes and she was pleased to see that his handsome features had returned to normal.

Mikan watched him intently, worried what his reaction would be. Natsume blinked at her a few times and she could see the change in his eyes go from disoriented to confused, then watched as awareness crept in. He finished off with an expression of horror and tried to push himself off her, but Mikan stopped him by grabbing two fistfuls of his hair and dragging him down to kiss her.

She had messed things up between them enough. There was no way in hell she was going to let him beat himself up for this when she was clearly a willing participant. It was true that the situation might not have been ideal, but she was quickly learning that there may never be ideal times between them and she would take any time she could get.

She had been an idiot to run from him before. Although her parents deserved her attention, it was time for her to face what she had been hiding from since she left Natsume in bed. Something she had been afraid to face but the dragon in her had clearly already chosen. It was quite possibly… maybe… likely… that she might have fallen for him. Gods, even in her head she had trouble admitting it. But the facts were there even if she did not want to admit it.

Natsume was the one. And that just complicated matters to the nth degree.

Mikan coaxed, urged and even tried to force his mouth into returning her kiss and for a few moments she was successful. But then he gently pried her arms off of him and moved off of her. He pulled back to his knees so he could readjust himself and his clothes, but when he saw the state she was in and what was left of her clothes he jumped to his feet to pace angrily. Anger, guilt and remorse began to churn violently within him.

"Dammit Mikan! I didn't want it to be like this!" he yelled, not stopping in his pacing to look at her.

It did not take a genius to know that she was romantically challenged. What she understood about romance was what she saw in movies and books where everything is all nice and neatly scripted with a guaranteed happy ending. Well someone must have forgotten to send her script, because words like 'I was stupid', 'I'm sorry' or 'I love you' felt pretty lame and inadequate right now but it was all she had. She would just have to wing it for the rest.

She eased herself up into a sitting position and could not help the little hiss of pain. She felt sore all over. A stray thought caused her to wonder how Hotaru and her mate preferred aggressive love making over the sweeter varieties. Sure it had its appeal when you were doing it, but you sure paid for it later. Maybe she was doing something wrong? She would have to try and find time to ask the woman.

Natsume heard her and stopped to look at her only to have his expression turn into one of revulsion.

"Natsume, whatever you are thinking, stop." She had to head off any self recriminations on his part.

"What would you know of what I am thinking?" he asked turning away from her effectively closing himself off from her. It hurt, but she supposed she deserved that.

"I know enough to know you are trying to punish yourself for what just happened and I'm telling you, you did nothing wrong."

"Nothing wrong! Look at you! Any idiot who walked up on us right now would have me hauled off to the nearest police station!" He yelled at her over his shoulder, refusing to look at her. "Would you just hurry up and put some clothes on?"

She blindly reached for her backpack and retrieved some shorts and underwear from another zipper locked bag. "I'm not the only one with marks on them Natsume." She said. And it was true. When he turned his back on her she was a little surprised to find that she had clawed right through his shirt and left bleeding welts on his back.

"That just makes it look like you were defending yourself. Now get dressed." He said quietly. Mikan was almost fully clothed before she noticed his head drop forward. His words were so soft she was not sure she was supposed to hear it. "If you know so much about me, then why, Mikan?"

"I was stupid."

He let loose a bitter snort "You were stupid? Is that the best you can do? I thought we were more than this! I thought… forget what I thought."

Tears that she had been holding all morning started to slip out. She could just scream for how much of his trust she had lost. She deserved it, but that did not stop it from hurting. "I'm sorry." Was the only thing she could think of at the moment. Well there was that one other thing, but she doubted he would believe her right now.

He gave another derisive laugh. "Yeah, right, you're sorry. I'm guessing this is one of your _reasons_ that you talked about earlier?" he asked, braving to look at her over his shoulder. When he saw that she was dressed, he turned to face her completely. He saw her look of surprise and rolled his eyes at her.

"I'm not an idiot Mikan, You are clearly here for a reason. One that I'm guessing your family was not happy about or they would not have come so fast to get you back. So what is it? Where you going to try and get into the family business and steal something? Did you get into trouble on one of you smuggling jobs? What was so important that I can get tossed away like used trash?" he asked scathingly.

The words were designed to hurt her, and they struck true to their target. Mikan gave up trying to console herself with the knowledge that he was hurt and was lashing out and that she deserved it. Instead she got mad and yelled the first thing that came to mind.

"I'm here to find out who killed my parents!"

Tbc

* * *

Well all right, now Natsume is almost up to speed.

For those of you with delicate sensibilities who were alarmed by the rape undertones in this chapter, I'm not really going to apologize. I did try to warn you at the beginning of this chapter. Natsume is not human and he is not perfect. I've been trying to hint from the beginning that this was something he was capable of. The only thing I might be sorry for is if my earlier hints were too subtle.


	21. Chapter 21

Well hello again! Thank you to all who sent in reviews! You guys are great! I love you all!

* * *

A Dragon's Heart – Chapter 21

"I'm here to find out who killed my parents!" she screamed in his face.

Okay, whatever he had been expecting, that was not it.

But that did not mean he was ready to forget her leaving him.

Dammit, it really hurt to find out that he had been so casually tossed aside. Normally a stranger to his own emotions, he never thought there was anything that could make him want to yell, throw up, beat someone bloody, huddle under his blankets, and make him feel he was burning and freezing all at the same time. So it came as a rude surprise to find out there was something that could. _Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Mikan Sakura, the new owner of my heart._

A part of him wanted to do something to get back at her. To hurt her like she hurt him. _Not that I already haven't hurt her. _He reminded himself with a nauseous lurch of his stomach. He never ever wanted to lose himself to dragon lust, especially with her. Sometime soon they would have to get her to some water to heal up.

But more than he needed to hurt her, he just needed her. She was his true mate. They were meant for each other. If they kept on like this could very well spend eternity lashing out and hurting each other to the point where they hated the other but they would never be able to love another. In hurting each other they would only end up hurting themselves.

If he doubted that, old cliché all he needed to only look a little closer at the wounds he had just inflicted on her and think of how pissed he was at himself for marring any part of her skin. If another person had done that to her, he would have killed them.

He gave her a wary glare. Fire and Air, did he wish he wasn't so crazy about her. But he was, and now here he was chasing after her like some love struck puppy.

Natsume was so lost to his thoughts that he had not responded to Mikan's little outburst for several minutes. Mikan took his silence as a form of rejection and started to collect her bag together along with the tatters of cloth that used to be her shorts and panties. Before she could finish, he walked up to her and stopped her.

"Explain." He ordered.

She shot him a mutinous look but started to answer him anyway."I have already told you that my parents died when I was very little. What I didn't tell you was that they were living in Japan at the time."

_Shit._ Natsume was overcome with a feeling of foreboding. He had a very bad feeling he knew where this was going.

"My father had been sent to Japan on a job. For several weeks no one had heard from him then he suddenly calls out of nowhere saying he's found his mate and that she was pregnant with their child." She explained bluntly.

"The family was more than a little shocked I guess because he had always been so carefree and usually avoided serious responsibilities. My uncle Kazu always called him a flake. So my father claiming to have a pregnant mate had caught them all by surprise. My parents and uncle Kazu left the States that night for Japan to find out what was going on."

Mikan continued her narrative, but Natsume could tell she was having troubles keeping still while she talked about it. Out of a nervous tension she started walking aimlessly about the clearing. While her back was turned, he reached down to the ground and snatched up a piece of fabric off of the ground. It was white, with little red strawberries on it and red lacy trim. A fragment of her panties.

His insides gave another little twist at tried not to think about how they ended up in this state. He would have liked to have seen them on her at least once.

He rather liked her sassy fun taste in underwear. They suited her personality. To him, most women were like most of their underwear; plain, boring, mostly white, and totally lacking in any flair. Oh sure sometimes there might be the odd black or even lace, but those were mainly for showing off not a reflection of personality. Mikan was far too unique for just plain anything and if there was one thing his mate could never be, it was boring.

He was pulled from his thoughts when she continued her narrative. "They arrived in Hokkaido in less than a day after his call. I'm not sure what they expected to find, maybe they thought he had been forced or tricked into taking a mate. But when they arrived, they had found that he had indeed found his mate and he was almost fanatical about her. They had even stayed several days just to make sure everything was as it appeared to be."

Mikan turned to look at him and gave him a sad smile that made his heart thud heavily in his chest. He did not like seeing that sad look on her. "A few days before I was born, my father had called them again saying things were getting weird here. That was his exact words, 'getting weird' and he said as soon as it was safe for my mother to swim, they would be leaving."

"What do you mean as soon as it was safe, why did he not leave then?" Natsume could not help asking.

"Sea dragons, like many pregnant females, are quite delicate, and deep ocean currents can be quite rough. Swimming in them could be fatal to both the mother and the baby. Anyway, a few days later, regardless of the danger, my mother showed up unexpectedly at their home alone and bleeding badly from the beating she had taken in the water. She passed away a few hours after I was born. Blood loss, they figure."

Natsume heard what Mikan had not said. If her mother was alone then it was unlikely that her father was alive. No male dragon worth the name would ever allow his mate to endanger herself and their child. He looked at Mikan and knew if he were in the same set of circumstances, he would not let her out of his sight while he still had a pulse and there was no way in hell she would be anywhere near the ocean in that condition while he was still breathing.

No, her father must be dead, and for her mother to so recklessly risk her life and the life of her baby, he can only guess that her mate's ending was not a good one. She must have been very desperate or very afraid to swim that ocean.

"Did your mother ever say what happened?" he asked in a low voice. There are very few things in this world that could kill a dragon, especially a gold male, driven to protect his mate. The list of possibilities was a frighteningly very short one. And he did not like what was on it.

Mikan shook her head tiredly at him. "She never got a chance to say much of anything."

"So you just thought you could swim on over here and find the answers yourself." He stated. He was _really_ starting to not like the picture he was seeing. Irritated, closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "You _idiot._ You complete and total idiot." He said with heat. Opening his eyes, he looked at the woman he would be stuck with for the next hundred and fifty years or so.

Provided they lived through the next week that is.

Her face had gone pale with the exception of bright red spots on her cheeks. Her expression was one of shock and anger, but he saw the hurt in those eyes of hers. _Mikan, you have no idea what you have just done._

In a huff, she stalked over and grabbed her backpack and made to exit the clearing. He stopped her before she ever got close to the edge of the trees. Mikan glared at the hand holding her upper arm and tried to shake herself free from it, but he held on easily. "Let go."

"Do you have any idea of where you are going and what you are doing?"

She stopped struggling to give him a hateful look. "I'm going to check out my mother's home in Hokkaido."

Hokkaido. They were currently in Aomori. Too close, much too close for his comfort. This had disaster written all over it.

"And say you find out who, as you said, caused your parents death, what then? Hmm? Were you going to just march up and demand justice? Do you expect they will take one look at you and cave into their guilt confessing all their sins? Do think they even care about your feelings in the matter? You complete child! Grow up! Whoever did this probably does not give a shit about you and even less about your feelings! All you are going to do is get yourself killed!" When he had started his voice was dripping with sarcasm, but as he continued he became more upset and louder until he was finally yelling at her.

"Stop yelling at me! Maybe you don't understand, but I need to do this!" she yelled back.

"How can I not yell? It is the only way to get through your thick skull! You didn't even think this thing through did you?" by now they were toe to toe, screaming at each other.

"Stop calling me stupid!"

"When you stop acting stupid, I'll stop calling you stupid! Mikan you don't even know who you are up against!"

"I'm not _that_ stupid! You said it yourself, your grandfather practically owns Japan. I can add two and two together you know."

"Yeah, but you get three. Mikan, if he really did have something to do with your parents, then he probably already knows who you are." His voice had lowered, but none of his fears had lessened. Mikan blinked at him as if she had never even considered the possibility. _Stupid, stupid girl!_ "That is the way he is. He is always five steps ahead of his enemies. Do you think any half-assed idiot can become king of Japan's supernatural community? He is cunning and devious and extremely ruthless. You cannot possibly estimate how dangerous he is!"

His heart was racing in his chest. She was going to get herself killed. Physically, he could survive without her, his heart would still beat, his lungs would still breathe, and his brain would still function without his mate. But mentally, emotionally, spiritually there was no way he could go back to his miserable black and white existence. He needed her bold color and playful patterns.

If he helped her, somehow he knew that it would not be like the other times. She was not an unwanted castoff that he could shelter. He was already disobeying the old man but this… this would be… helping her would be seen as an open challenge to the king's authority. His grandfather would never allow it to go unpunished.

Out of nowhere Serena's words floated through his head. More specifically, the part about Mikan being the key to what he had waited a long time for. He thought it meant the end to his loneliness and dull life, but maybe she meant he would finally have an opportunity to break free of the old man. He gave his mate a heavy look. If he was wrong, people under his care could be killed. _Gods of Fire and Air, if you hear me, please do not let me be wrong about this._

_Aoi, Luka! _He yelledthrough the telepathy he shared with his siblings_._

'_Natsume! Where are you? What is going on?'_ his brother answered. Natsume felt his stomach clench tighter. Aoi had yet to answer his call and there was some sort of interference between them. She was alright for now, but there was also a hint of panic in Luka's tone. Not good. Something had happened while he was away.

_Luka, what is happening?_

'_I don't know! This morning the staff came by and told Aoi that the king wanted to speak with her, and now I can't contact her!'_ Barrages of feelings were pouring through his brother's words. The draman was blaming himself and his inability to stay away from his beloved. He was certain she was being punished because of him.

Natsume felt nauseous. The king was already a step ahead of him. _Luka, I need you to focus! I need you to quickly and quietly contact the others. Get them ready to leave tonight._

'_Tonight? What about Aoi?'_ Natsume's lips twisted into a bitter smile. Of course Luka's first concern was Aoi. He understood the bond between his brother and sister so much better now. He could understand that Luka was one step away from losing his mind to worry, so Natsume gave him the task of protecting the others to focus on.

_Let me worry about Aoi. You just make sure anyone who the old man has not got his hands on is ready to fly at full dark._

'_What has happened Natsume?'_ Luka asked with a clearer mental tone now that he had a direction. Luka was not normally scatter brained, but worry and emotions could cause him to lose focus. They could make anyone lose focus.

_It would appear that my mate has come to Japan with the intention of finding answers to her parents' deaths.'_

Luka calmly processed that thought for a moment then burst out _'Is she stupid?'_ He cried, completely ignoring the 'mate' comment.

_Tell her that. I'm going to take her to Hokkaido._

'_Hokkaido! What about Aoi?'_

_I'll get her back, I promise. The old man won't do anything to her yet. _Natsume could tell his brother wanted to protest, but he held his thoughts. _I love her too you know. I won't let anything happen to her._

'_Natsume, you know what he is like. He might try to force you to choose between your mate and my ma-… your sister.'_ Natsume felt the ache in his chest for his brother. Even in his own mind, Luka tried to fight calling Aoi his mate. He honestly did not know how the draman managed it when Natsume himself could only deny his own mating for all of three days. It must be painful hell on them both.

If they ever… no… _when_ they got out of this, one of the first things he would have to do is set up a formal mating ceremony for them.

_I will not let that happen. Just be careful, and whatever you do, don't get caught._ Natsume finished, and closed the link to find Mikan staring at him oddly.

"Did something happen?" she asked, sounding worried.

"The old man is already ahead of us. He has Aoi."

"What? What do you mean? You mean because of me?" her face went from concern to alarm. "How can that be?"

"I told you he is clever and devious and I have kept you away from him for too long not to raise his suspicions. Right now I need you to contact your family and explain the situation to them. Ask them if they can help Luka and the others. I'm going to try and evacuate as many as I can tonight."

"Is she in any danger?" her trembling voice made his already pounding heart skip a beat but he did not have time to kiss away any of her fears.

"Not for the moment. I don't think so. He will want to use her as a bargaining tool. Now please call your family." He ordered while he pulled out his own phone and keyed in the password that activated a very special app that Hotaru had installed strictly for emergency only.

The Black Cat app.

The name wasn't very clever or even informative. Actually, it was designed to be ambiguous. If there was ever a time when the situation in the clan suddenly went pear shaped, his people needed a way to be informed to get out without the rest of the clan and more importantly, his grandfather knowing. Hence the Black Cat. When activated, it sent a small image of a meowing black cat walking across over a dozen cell phone screens. The cat would walk across the screen before sprouting a pair of wings and flying off. The image would replay over and over again. Those that saw it knew they would have to quickly and inconspicuously pack up what they could carry to leave as soon as they could.

They had been working on the evacuation process for some time now. He prayed to any gods listening that they would be able to pull it off in one group because they could not afford to leave stragglers.

Once he was done activating the evacuation code, he waited and watched his mate. She had this faraway look and he could tell she was calling them telepathically. After a few moments her eyes focused on him and started to well up. Before she could do any more he wrapped his arms around her taking in her scent and her energy to calm his own nerves.

"I'm so sorry Natsume." She let out a quiet sob into his chest. "I'm so stupid. I never thought anyone would get hurt because of me. I was so certain I needed to do this and I just-"

"Shhh." His exterior may have been calm, but he was worried as hell about his sister and brother. Not to mention all of the people who supported him. They would all be safe if he just brought Mikan back to his grandfather, but the thought never even crossed his mind. As he had already acknowledged, he could never go back to his miserable life without her.

He held on to her for a moment longer then let her go. "Come on." He said, and she nodded while sniffling quietly.

"Alright, Tsubasa figures we can ferry any of the young children or anyone else who cannot fly. If you can find some sort of boat, we can pull it to wherever you want."

"That sounds great but you can't help." He told her while guiding her out of the clearing.

"No. This is my fault. I'm not going to hide when I can help fix it." She said stubbornly. It warmed him that she was willing to help.

"I was not talking about that. I mean that you and I are going to Hokkaido."

tbc

* * *

Another one down. You know I never would have thought this story would be as long as it is. There is still a heck of a lot of story left, and these chapters are getting trickier to write.


	22. Chapter 22

Okay so I haven't said it in a while. Not mine, never will be, can we move on now?

* * *

A Dragon's Heart – Chapter 22

Back at the clan's estate, a young black dragon is tinkering with one of her inventions. Although her portable desert island performed perfectly yesterday (as all Hotaru Imai products do), she has since come up with a few modifications she could add. Perhaps she could call this the deluxe model and increase the price by fifty percent. It would make a decent profit.

Hotaru knew that other people thought she was greedy and money hungry. And they were partly right. When her clan was taken over by the king she had learned the hard way that it is always important to keep an emergency nest egg. But what those fools did not take into account was the money she had to spend in raw materials. Sure, she could have bought some parts that were pre-fabricated, but she was never comfortable having parts where someone else held the patent inside of her work. No, she liked her creations to be hers and hers alone. That meant she had to make everything but the nuts and bolts from scratch, and that meant spending extra money for materials and equipment.

Her little nest egg was sizable, but it was nowhere near what people thought it was.

The inventor was trying to decide the best place to put a sleeping compartment and lavatory when her phone started ringing. Because she was working, she was tempted to ignore it, but that particular ring tone belonged to Hyuuga. She absently pressed the accept button and brought it to her ear without really looking at it. "Imai." She answered curtly.

There was a pause for a second or two and she was beginning to wonder what his problem was when her phone meowed at her. Although none of her shock could be seen from the outside, her stomach dropped to her feet and she almost dropped the phone. Carefully pulling the phone away from her ear to look at it, she was stunned and a little horrified to see the image of a cat walk across her screen, sprout wings, and fly off.

_The evacuation code. _Inside, Hotaru felt her heart rate and breathing speed up. This was it. This was really it. She had already known and expected something like this was going happen, but it was still hard for her brilliant mind to process.

Truthfully, she had no psychic ability at all, but she had been observing the red dragon heir for some time now. When Hyuuga had dragged that fish out of the water a few days ago she had predicted that all of their lives would be drastically forever changed. At first she did not know whether to welcome the sea dragon or fear her arrival. In the end though, she found herself being almost as charmed by her as Hyuuga was. It was an unusual feeling for her.

The sound of footsteps running towards her reached her keen ears and she was not surprised to see her mate hovering at the door with an intense look on his face. He was breathing hard and had to use one hand to brace himself against the doorframe while the other one held his cell phone tightly.

She looked at her mate for a few heartbeats feeling oddly relieved that he was there. Hayate could seem like such a goof at times that it was easy to forget how loyal his heart was. She looked at him and could feel nothing but adoration and trust from him. He had total faith in her and at times like these where her own faith in herself was weak, his strength helped bolster her own.

And that was Hotaru Imai's true favorite currency. No, it wasn't money like everyone believed, although having money could afford a small amount of this most treasured of things. But all of the money in the world could not completely buy it out. No, the thing that Hotaru valued most above all else was control.

All the moneymaking schemes, all the blackmailing, all the dark threats, even in her own mating, was a way for her to control her own destiny. Maybe it was the black dragon in her, but more than anything, Hotaru needed to feel she was in control. She had been out of control once in her life already, and she would everything in her power to never feel that way again.

_Right, I can do this. I have practiced this in my head a thousand times. I know my job, and I can do it._ She told herself with shaky confidence. She got up and walked over to her private vault where she had been storing a few useful creations. She pulled out a few select items and locked it back up. Idly, she wondered if there would ever be a time when she would ever get to retrieve the rest of the items in the vault. _Terrible loss, but I can always re-create every one of those items from memory. The blueprints and patents are already backed up._

Hotaru turned to give Hayate a grim, determined look. He used a quick burst of speed to cross the room and snake his arm around her waist. She let him kiss her. Normally she was not comfortable with such displays of affection, but there was a small calculated percentage that suggested that one or both of them might not make it through to tomorrow. A small token of affection was certainly acceptable under the circumstances.

Hayate pulled away and gave her a grim look. "You will be careful." He told her. It was as close to an order as he had ever given her. It irked her to hear it, but she chose not to make an issue of it since she also understood that he was a male dragon. Protecting his mate was bred into him on the cellular level.

The pair parted and he nodded at her "Good luck."

She gave him a cool nod in return. "If you do not return to me in the exact state you are in now, I will be very cross." It was as close as she could get to a gushing affectionate good-bye and he knew it. He gave her a cheeky, boyish smile, a quick peck on her lips, and bounded off.

Although, her lips wanted to pull into a small smile, she fought it off and pulled on her usual cool façade. They all had their assigned tasks. Hers was to monitor the king and his people and make sure the younger and weaker members of their group escaped with as little notice as possible. Hayate was supposed to guide and guard them.

_Enough with the fears and worries_. She told herself harshly. Fear would get her nothing. Focus is what she needed now. She had work to do.

* * *

When Shuichi Sakarano's phone went off he was in the middle of teaching. Teaching duties were divided between himself and a rather uptight brown dragon named Jinno.

Big as their clan was, it was not big enough to have its own school. Rather, the children were usually homeschooled up to grade 6 when they were old enough to have control over their powers and understood the value of hiding the fact that they were different from other children.

His class was busy with their heads down trying to practice their kanji when he felt the vibration at his hip. Being Natsume Hyuuga's unofficial executive assistant, it was not the first time his phone had gone off in class so the children were somewhat used to seeing him get calls. He was lucky that they were not particularly curious or observant this day because they might have noticed the drain of color to his face or the wild look that came in to his eyes. Forcing his face into a neutral expression, he addressed his students.

"Alright everyone, that should be good for now. Why don't we break a bit early for lunch and you can all meet me back here in after lunch?" he suggested with only a hint of tremor in his voice. He would much rather suspend class for the day, but to do that might arouse suspicions. A few of his students gave him odd looks, but no one questioned him.

It was all he could do not to run back to his house using his top dragon speed but he somehow managed to get there with as much nonchalance as he could muster. When he got there, he was not surprised to see Natsume's draman brother there waiting for him.

"Luka, is there something I can do for you?" he asked cautiously, but did not stand around to wait for an answer.

In a move that would probably look very rude to an outsider, he walked away from his guest. Instead of chatting, he crossed the room and opened a small cupboard that held various innocuous cleaning supplies. Reaching for the back past a broom, he hooked his fingertips on a rather plain looking hook. Pulling the hook he activated the magic/electronic dampener his sister-in-law created for such occasions. When she had first installed it he had felt a little ridiculous like he was stuck in some kind of second-rate spy movie. But he had never been so happy to see that stupid hook as he was now.

Once activated, no one would be able to listen in either magically or electronically. Perhaps he was being overly paranoid, but his intuition told him otherwise. As a quick check, he stretched his senses to their limits and did not hear anyone but Luka and his mate Subaru who was approaching fast. As soon as Subaru passed through the door he looked at Luka.

"What happened?"

The draman gave a quick synopsis of what had happened including Aoi being missing and that the girl Mikan had actually come to Japan in hopes of finding her parents killers. Shuichi was willing to admit that he did not think any better of the girl's plans for coming here than Natsume or Luka did, but she had obviously not been raised in a clan where any mistake you do is used against you.

"Natsume just contacted me saying the sea dragons would be willing to help by pulling anyone who cannot fly on boats."

Shuichi looked at Subaru. "Surely your sister has something we can use. Explain the situation and see what she has got. Luka, I need you to text Koko. He has been hanging around that one sea dragon since she came out of the water. He should be close enough to talk to them." The phone at his hip had been vibrating for several minutes now and he was running out of time before he had to get back to his students.

He looked at his phone and found five text messages had come to him all practically on top of one another. The one from Koko he could ignore because Luka was already taking care of it. He sent a quick reply to the others reminding them what their tasks were.

'_Don't forget to eat something.'_ His mate gently reminded him in his mind.

_Yes mother._ He answered snidely before continuing _I don't have time for food, I have to get back to my students and somehow try to look like everything is normal and casual._

His mate sent him a few unpleasant words about being called mother _'I still have some left over bento from yesterday sitting in the fridge.'_

_Oh you mean from the food you stole from the others yesterday?_

'_Now is not the time for one of your lectures.'_

_Just be careful okay? I don't know what I would do if something happened to you._

'_You would be your usual bossy self.'_

_SUBARU!_ Trust his mate to spoil a perfectly good moment with his abrasive behavior.

'_Shhh,'_ his mate said soberly _'I know what you are trying to say, and you know I do too.'_ For Subaru, that was downright mushy.

Shuichi closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Right, there were a million things to do and only a few short hours before full dark to do them.

* * *

"Stop following me!" She turned and yelled at him.

"What, do you think I want to be stuck babysitting you? You should be thanking me."

"For what? Being a stalker?"

"Pu-l-ease. As if anyone would want to stalk a seaweed head like you. Now your cousin on the other hand, I'd be seriously interested in stalking. If Natsume wasn't already stalking her of course." Inside, he winced a little. That was probably a little uncalled for.

Right on cue, she spun and glared daggers at him. Maybe it would have been best not to poke at that particular sore spot.

The problem was he really could not resist needling Sumire. He felt like it was somehow his duty to poke a few holes in that overinflated ego of hers, but even as he thought it though, he winced knowing that most of that was a lie.

She was not overly egotistical. At best, she could be called confident, and as a mind reader, he knew that her confidence was not rock solid. Her self-assurance was just as fragile as anyone else. And like chinks in armor, he just could not stop himself from jabbing at those gaps.

He said her hair looked like seaweed. She said he was an obnoxious jerk.

He asked if her voice was as high and screechy as it was it talk to dolphins and porpoises better, she said his laughing sounded like a donkey upchucking its lunch.

If he was really in the mood to be honest with himself he would have to admit that she kind of intimidated him. They were nowhere near socially equal and if he wanted any chance with her, he would have to level the playing field.

The very sad truth was he was only a young silver air dragon in a clan with two reds and an abundance of older and stronger silver and blacks. Among their clan that landed him at about the top of the middle class. If you factored in his mindreading ability and his closeness with the clan heir, he might be able to squeeze in at the bottom of the top class in his clan. Either way he was certainly no one to be impressed by.

Sumire in the other hand was a female sea dragon. If he understood their society correctly, what little social order system they had put her near the top. To make things worse for him, their females seemed to have an innate attraction to strong, dominant males. Something he definitely was not. If he didn't do something to bring her down a level or two, there was no way she would notice him as a man. But if he kept going as he was, he would put her off as well.

He held his hands up in surrender. "I'm just saying that someone was going to have to watch you while you were on the estate and you should trust that I would be better than one of the king's thugs. They usually have some pretty peculiar notions about what it means to watch a lone woman."

She looked like she wanted to give him a scathing retort, but then memories clouded her eyes and mind. He did not really need to read her mind to know that she had seen firsthand just how brutal air dragons could be. Koko was a lot more relieved than he expected when he noticed that none of the memories involved her being forced to do anything against her will.

Why was he even bothering? Why did he even care? He was not comfortable admitting it, but that night in Monte Carlo was little more than a fluke. A right time, right place kind of thing. She needed an alibi and he needed something to make him forget the horrors of that trip. He should be content to move on. Why did he feel the need to make a bigger impression on her?

His musings on the matter were cut short by his the ringing of his cell phone. Oops, the battery was almost dead, he better change it out for a charged one. He and the others had all promised Natsume that they would always keep their phones charged and on in case anyone needed them. He pressed the accept button mindful of the blinking battery symbol on his screen.

Sumire took the opportunity of his distraction to start walking away but she stopped and paused when she heard him breathe "Shit" under his breath.

Curious, she walked back to him. "Is something wrong?"

It was all he could do to hold his expression and not panic. Already his mind could pick up distant echoes of alarm from several others. This was bad. Really, really bad. Natsume would not have ordered an evacuation unless something major had happened.

He pushed his alice to his limits to try an reach the young red dragon. All he could pick up was that Natsume was far away and getting farther. He picked up Luka close by, a distant Yuu with his mate, Anna, Mochu and Kitsuneme were all at the estate, the Imai's and their respective mates. Shit, where was Aoi?

That was not the worst part. He could also feel several minds close by, watching them. Both of them. There was some kind of interference with their thoughts but the impression he got was of predators poised to spring for an attack. Son-of-a-bitch, they needed to move, now.

He gave her a sickly and slightly creepy smile. "Uh, my phone battery just died in the middle of a call. Come on, I need to get a new one." He told her in an abnormally loud voice while grabbing her wrist.

"What? I'm not going anywhere with you!" She hissed at him and tried to jerk her hand free.

He yanked her to him and noticed she was a lot shorter than he remembered. The top of her head was only at his nose. Was she that short in Monte Carlo? Or he was taller? He shook his head marveling at what the mind does when it is under stress.

"I'm not supposed to leave you to wander about by yourself." He said again in that loud voice of his before whispering harshly in her ear. "We are being watched right now, and I don't like what the people around us are thinking." He caught the slightest widening of her eyes and she seemed to start sniffing the air. Either way he did not wait any longer for her reaction. Instead he threw her over his shoulder like a sack of rice and took off with her screaming at him the whole way.

_That's it. Keep screaming._ He told her silently. The screams were both amusing and confusing to their unnamed watchers. He could tell they thought the show was as amusing as hell and they did not suspect that their presence was already detected.

They made it to the house that he shared with Kitsuneme and the other weaker members of Natsume's group.

Once inside he didn't waste any time swapping out his battery, but who to call? Natsume was not anywhere close, Luka? Maybe. Sakurano would probably be better. He was a better tactician than the others and he knew the evacuation plan backward and forward.

As his phone was powering up he turned to look at Sumire and his eyes almost fell out of his head. Did she actually have cat ears and whiskers sticking out of her head? Again she was sniffing the air when she turned to look at him.

"Say one word about how I look, and I'll claw your eyes out." She warned. He nodded stupidly staring at her ears. "Now what the hell is going on? They followed us here, but they are still trying to keep their distance." She told him in a business like tone, and he nodded again because he also knew that.

"Give me a moment first and I'll explain." He told her, refocusing his attention on texting Sakurano asking the exact same question as Sumire. Once he was done that he stretched his mind out to test where his pursuers were.

Yikes, too close, and some of the clan had super hearing. He held a finger to his lips in a silent command to keep quiet while he moved to turn on the TV to a ridiculously loud volume. Again he moved in close whisper into her ear. He found it rather odd that she had two sets of ears. Did it matter which one he talked to?

"Natsume has just ordered the evacuation of every one of his supporters." He whispered urgently. "Now he wouldn't do that unless something very bad happened."

"What happened?" she whispered back, tickling his jaw line with her whiskers.

"I don't know, that is what I am trying to find out, but it freaks me out that at the same time he orders and evac, the king's people are following us."

"Could it be because of Tsubasa, Misaki and I? He did not seem interested in meeting us yesterday."

"I don't know, maybe. But I get the feeling they are following me as well." He watched as a crease appeared between her slim brows. "I need you to contact your uncle and warn them. I'll try and contact someone from here." He ordered.

Sumire's eyes went distant, and he could tell she was calling her family. If he wanted to, he could have eavesdropped on the conversation, but his phone beeped telling him he had a call from Luka.

"Hey buddy, how is it going?" He asked casually as soon as he engaged the call.

"They have Aoi." Luka said worriedly, causing Koko's stomach to drop to his feet and his mouth to go dry. He took a deep breath to brace himself.

"Is it possible to speed this thing up? Maybe a short cut?" he asked, hoping that the draman would understand that he asking permission to read his mind. It would not only be faster but more detailed than just explaining it verbally. He might have just looked into Luka's mind, but for some reason he was getting interference again. That did not make him feel any better.

"What? Why?"

"Because I don't have a lot of _privacy_ here." He said with emphasis.

"Are you with the sea dragons?"

"One." He answered curtly. His bland one word answer must have alerted Luka because the man paused before carefully asking his next question.

"Only one? Is there anyone else nearby?"

"Um-hmmm…" he mumbled quietly. He was beginning to wonder why his unwanted guests were still hanging back. If they were just there to monitor them, then why did he feel like prey? He doubted that whatever they were waiting for would let them just sit around all day.

"Damn. I'm at the clinic and we have the dampeners on. I'll leave and give you a quick look. I need you to find the sea dragons and try and get their help."

"I see." He said in a non-committal tone. "Well Sumire and I were just about to go swimming, maybe you would like to come?" he said in the overly loud voice he used for his unknown watchers just in case they were listening.

"I get what you are trying to say. You want me to meet up with you and the sea dragons by the water. I'm leaving now." He told Koko and all of a sudden the barrier between them was lifted and a wave of thoughts and feelings swept through Koko. Holy shit a lot had happened in the last few hours while he was distracted by Sumire.

'_Natsume wants to try and get their help. See what you can do.'_ Luka said lastly. Koko pulled his mind to the here and now and found himself focusing on the sea dragon in front of him.

"Tsubasaspoke to Mikan and I heard what has happened." She murmured quietly.

"It'll be a miracle if that cousin of yours does not get us all killed." He said, just as quietly.

"We told you she was a trouble magnet. Why do you think we came to get her so fast?" She hunched her shoulders uncomfortably. "Let's get out of here. All these eyes watching are making me twitchy."

That made him bring up a point that was worrying him. "Are you sure you can help with the king's people watching?"

She gave him a pointed look "Hello? Smuggler? Thief? Does that mean anything to you? It would be an embarrassment if we couldn't smuggle a few kids out." She said confidently before striding towards the door.

He flicked off the TV idly thinking that he had no idea what program had been on this whole time. Whatever. He quickened his pace and caught up to her in no time. "By the way before I forget," he said catching her by surprise by leaning so close to her ear. "The whiskers and the ears? Very cute."

"Shut up."

* * *

It was all Anna could do to focus on her work. As it was, she had been making sloppy mistakes left and right. She had used bad flour in a crust and the mochi she tried to make looked like a moving gelatinous blob. She just could not concentrate. She wasn't brave like the others.

Ever since the message from Natsume-sama came she had been terrified and barely able to hide her non-stop shaking. Unlike most of the others, she was due to work in the main kitchen today surrounded by people from the other side. She was working in the middle of enemy territory. If even one person suspected anything strange about her, she was dead meat.

_No_, she told herself trying to take a steadying breath. She was not alone. Kitsuneme had made an excuse to stop by earlier. He was not able to get close enough to give her more than an encouraging smile and nod, but it was enough to remind her that there were others close by.

Not even five minutes after she thought that, Mochu stopped by. Like Kitsuneme, he was able to find and excuse to stop by the kitchen, but not a good enough one to warrant entering the food preparation area though. Mochu nodded his head at her and… wait a minute… did he just wink at her?

"Humph, that draman is getting above himself." An oily voice said from too close behind her making her shoulders tense. Trying hard not to panic, she gave the man behind her a weak smile.

"Mihara-san, you startled me." He did more than startle her, he made her flesh crawl. He had been not so subtly hitting on her for the past month or so, and she was running out of ways to dodge him. He was greasy, slimy, old enough to be her grandfather, and a black dragon to her lowly brown. If he lost his patience and chose not to wait any longer, she would have no chance against him.

Fortunately, he wasn't looking at her to see how creeped-out he made her. "That disgusting draman has some nerve showing up anywhere that forces his superiors to look at him." He turned and caressed Anna's cheek affectionately. "He did not upset you my dear with his revolting advances?"

Inside her shoes, Anna's toes curled tightly in the effort not to scream. The only revolting thing in the room was him and he was touching her. If she made the wrong move now, she had no doubt that the others in the kitchen would all turn a blind eye while he dragged her off to some dark corner to do things she did not even want to think about with him in the same context.

"I'm alright." She flat out lied. "He is a friend of Kitsuneme's and was probably just saying hello."

Mihara's face twisted into a disgusted scowl and walked away as she mentioned Kitsu's name. As a form of protection, she had kind of implied that Kistu was courting her. They had paired up for a while when they were younger so the lie was slightly believable; enough to discourage Mihara for now. She had no idea what she would do when he stopped believing.

The truth was both Mochu and Kitsuneme were dating her in an off and on basis, but because Mochu was a draman, he usually deferred to Kitsu. It could not really be called courting because neither one of them really had their hearts in it.

It was a shame really, she liked them and they liked her just fine, but there was no real spark between them. She could not help but figure that if they were not so limited in their choice of mates within the clan that none of them would have bothered to look the other's way.

Wait, what was she thinking? She was leaving tonight! That grease ball Mihara would soon be a distant bad memory. Maybe she could go to America where Mikan was and meet all kinds of handsome young dragons. The girl did say she had a big family. _Oohhh, I wonder if any of them look like that hottie uncle of hers!_ For the first time since she spotted a black cat walking across her phone screen Anna smiled.

She would get out tonight! They all would. Definitely!

* * *

On a train bound for Aomori a young couple has just ditched the afternoon classes (and the rest of the semester) they attend at university. Sometime, much later, Yuu and Nonoko would surely be worried about what would happen to their grades and how they were going to repair the damage they were about to do to their academic record, but for now they had more pressing concerns.

Yuu was busy on his tiny laptop transferring funds and securing Natsume's holdings. His mate Nonoko was texting the Imais about poisons and drugs both effective and ineffective on dragons.

They both knew they made pretty weak dragons, which was why their job was to stay with the young ones to guard and care for them wherever they ended up going. The final destination would not be decided until they started the evacuation though, so they needed to be with them when they left.

* * *

Tsubasa felt like more had happened to him in the last two days than had happened in the last two years.

First Mikan runs away and he has to chase her down in Japan of all places. When he arrives he finds an air dragon trying to stake his claim on her and then they _both_ run away.

And last night he persuaded Misaki into a moonlight swim but had never expected the water to stir his blood like it did. He was ready to drop to his knees and beg if she fought him anymore. As it was, he was not the only one who was affected, not only did she finally stop fighting him and what was between them, she gave him her oath as a mate.

When he woke this morning, he was ecstatic. He and his mate had celebrated their union for hours and he felt like he was on top of the world. He could not wait to tell his family. They would go wild because they really liked her.

And then hurricane Mikan happened. Again. Maybe hurricane wasn't right. Tsunami or earthquake might be more accurate. She was a walking natural disaster. He had tried to warn his hosts about the kind of destruction that followed her, but they did not listen.

Well they were listening now.

Tsubasa's mind was a quick one and getting the young and weak members of that kid Natsume's little faction out would be easy-peasy. Finding a spot to hide them might be harder. He wasn't sure how far into Asia the dragon king's power extended. It would be preferable to take them to another continent, but he needed to work that out with the others when they arrived.

_Oh Mikan, what have you got us all into._

_

* * *

_

The trip to Hokkaido did not take all that long but Natsume felt on edge for most of it. About the only time he relaxed any was on the ferry ride over. He had paid extra for a private room and spent most of the ride reminding his adorable little idiot sea dragon just who her mate was. It was kind of funny watching her try to stay quiet so no one would hear what they were doing.

But aside from that, he was worried about his people. He was worried about calling an evacuation. What if he had called it too soon? What if he had called it too late?

He had always envisioned that he would either be protecting their backs or possibly even dead. He had never figured he would be sitting on the sidelines like this. It was agonizing. With supreme effort he resisted calling and texting over and over again. They knew what to do; he just had to trust them to do it. Nevertheless, he fidgeted the whole bus ride to through Hokkaido while Mikan fell asleep on his shoulder.

They got off in what looked like the middle of nowhere, and began hiking. After an hour of following the map Mikan had they had arrived at a big nowhere.

"Gimme that!" he ordered snatching the map from her. The afternoon had started to wane and so had his patience. The closer to night he got the more on tense he got. He didn't really mean to snap at her, but he needed something to vent on and she was the only one for miles.

Gritting his teeth in frustration, he looked at the map and the surrounding forest. As much as he wanted to blame her for a lousy sense of direction, she was right. They were indeed in the right spot… there was just nothing here. He made an irritated sound in his throat.

"There see?" she said sniping at him. He could tell his edginess was affecting her as well. "It is just not here! Even the GPS co-ordinates are right, but there is nothing here but forest! How can a whole lake just disappear?" she asked rhetorically. "Maybe we should head back to that trail we saw and try and find someone to get directions from." Without waiting for him, she stalked off in the direction of the trail.

That idea turned out to be just as useless as walking in circles hoping to see something. By now the afternoon shadows were growing longer and they were sniping at each other almost non-stop. "If this place does not show up by sunset, we are going back to the estate." Natsume warned her. He'd had enough of this wild goose chase. They had run into a dozen different hikers and tourists and none of them had even heard of the lake they were talking about.

Screw it, they were heading back now.

"Yuka-chan?" a voice called out from almost nowhere causing them to look around. There, leaning against a tree where Natsume was certain no one had been a second before, was a man. The stranger did not even spare a glance in Natsume's direction; his eyes were all on Mikan, which made the dragon's hackles rise.

"Yuka-chan!" he cried joyfully and glomped onto Mikan.

tbc

* * *

AN: Do I even need to say who is coming up next? I could give you three guesses, but I think you will only need one.

So yeah this probably comes off as a filler chapter, but I wanted to show how far the ripples of Mikan's arrival extend. And for those of you who do not remember Mihara, he was that creepy guy working for Z with the medusa alice. Volume 6 or 7? Something like that anyway, I feel like this chapter should have had a siren going off in the background and someone screaming "battle stations!" Like everyone is getting ready for war.

I had quite the problem with one part of this chapter. I think I need to get in touch with my inner Koko. Out of all the characters in this chapter, he was by far the hardest for me. Does anyone else out there find it hard to work with him or is it just me?

;)


	23. Chapter 23

You want a disclaimer? Go look at the first chapter.

* * *

A Dragon's Heart – Chapter 23

He was going to beat the living crap out of him. That was all there was to it.

"Wait Natsume! Don't do anything to him!" Mikan yelled at him while latching tightly to his arm. She started hanging all her weight on it trying to stop him from doing anything to the stranger.

Fuck that. When he was done with this ass there would not be a single square inch of unmarred skin.

"Please Natsume!" Mikan cried out, "We need to find out what he knows!"

The only thing he needed to know about this guy was whether to roast the bastard regular, or extra crispy.

The bastard in question was not really saying much. He was too busy dodging Natsume's fists.

The stranger was probably the most effeminate man Natsume had ever seen. The thing was so slim and had such a pretty face the young red had almost mistaken him for woman. That little misconception lasted for all of two seconds and died instantly when the girly-man dared to touch Mikan. At that point his territorial instincts took over and he grabbed a fistful of the man's shirt and yanked him back so fast it was a wonder the man's neck did not snap.

Natsume charged at him with Mikan still dragging on his arm. Sheesh, she might as well not have bothered. She was quite light, and he had his strength and anger fueling him. As he closed in, he tried shooting a fire ball and briefly forgot that the woman hanging off of him canceled out that option. Fine by him. It would probably be more gratifying to mutilate him bare handed.

He shot a jab to the man's throat but his opponent dodged it smoothly. Natsume snarled at him baring his teeth. The red dragon hated to admit it, but the guy was no amateur at fighting. He may look like a pansy, but his moves were solid and well practiced. The guy probably used that girly face of his to confuse his opponents into thinking he was weak but only a fool would underestimate him. He was good, much better and more dangerous than Natsume wanted to admit. He would have to be careful not to underestimate the guy. But it would be best if he got the dead weight off his arm first.

"Natsume please!" Mikan screeched, with her fingers digging hard into his bicep. "He is the one we have been looking for!"

That gave Natsume pause as he arched a brow at her and gave her a dubious look. She had about five seconds to explain that statement before he went back to his violent rampage.

His sudden pause caught Mikan off guard and she gave him an unsure look as if she was trying to figure out if it was safe to let go of his arm yet or not. He watched a quick debate flit through her eyes. Finally, she nodded and eased up on the death grip she had on his arm before turning to look at the stranger.

Natsume followed her gaze and looked at his victim. Much to his annoyance the ass was still staring at Mikan. _Does the idiot even know he is about to become dog food?_ He wondered. If the stranger had any idea that in minutes he would forever say goodbye to that pretty face of his, he gave no indication of it. Instead, he was looking at Mikan in an almost tragic, sorrowful way. As if her appearance was the saddest thing in the world.

"You are not Yuka." His voice had a lilting, almost musical quality about it even while it sounded sad.

It was not a question, but Mikan answered it anyway by shaking her head slowly. "No. Yuka was my mother." Mikan responded, and the stranger looked even more distressed by the news.

Wait. This Yuka person was her mother? Why the hell didn't she just explain that in the first place? Then he recalled that he did not really give her a chance to say anything because he was caught by the sight of this freak draped over his mate. Just remembering it pissed him off all over again. Forget it; it would not have really mattered if she had said something sooner or not. The guy was going to get beaten into a fine paste anyway. The only difference his knowing this Yuka person made was that now Natsume had to wait until Mikan was not around to pound on him.

The stranger nodded at her in understanding. "You must be Izumi's child then." He said in a somewhat bitter tone that was at odds with its lilting sound. There was something about the way he spoke that prodded something the back of Natsume's mind but the thought was lost before he could catch it.

Mikan nodded at him at the mention of her father's name but before she could say anything the other man spoke up. "Please tell me, where is your mother?"

Without even thinking about it, Natsume put his arm around Mikan offering his silent support. Mikan gave the man a sad look of her own. "She passed away shortly after I was born." She told him quietly.

Raw grief flashed in the other man's eyes before he closed it off from them. It was just a moment, but Natsume could tell the news of this woman's death hurt him considerably. It almost made Natsume feel bad that he was going to beat him to a bloody mess.

The blond man gave his head a tiny shake and then clapped his hands sharply in front of him. "Well this is not a time to be gloomy! The daughter of Yuka being here is cause for celebration! I'm Narumi Anjou. Feel free to call me Narumi or Naru if you like. Come; let me have a better look at you!" He cheerfully ordered, and held his arms open wide as if he was expecting Mikan to leap into them. Natsume took his arm off of Mikan so he could move himself in front of her. He didn't care who this guy was to Mikan's mother, there was no way he was going to let another man touch his mate again.

Narumi blinked and looked at him in surprise as if he had not even noticed Natsume's presence until now. Like had somehow forgotten Natsume attacking him. "I'm sorry I did not see you standing there. And you would be?" he asked nonchalantly.

Natsume began grinding his teeth together in an effort to not set fire to the jerk. "Her protector." He answered rudely back. He could not exactly claim formal mate status since he had yet to give his oath. Still, what he was to Mikan was none of the disgusting freak's business.

At that, Narumi gave him a winning smile and for some strange reason, the red felt his heart rate start to pick up and his cheeks start to heat up. What the hell? Only Mikan should be able to affect him like that. "Really? How wonderful of you to take care of her like that." The man Narumi said in a sugary sweet voice.

_Whoa, is that a trick of the sunlight, or did he always have those sparkles around him?_

Natsume was on the verge of saying something else rude but the words died in his throat. In fact, the words disappeared altogether. Instead, he found himself standing and gaping at the blond.

Now that he had taken a really good look at him, wondered how he failed to notice how truly attractive this man was. Come to think of it, he did not think he had ever seen such an attractive man. Natsume's preferences did not fall towards men, but this guy was quite beautiful really, more than most women. Those long slender limbs, that gorgeous face, those amazing eyes, they heated his blood almost as well as Mikan did.

_Wow… he is just sooo…_ Natsume could not think of an appropriate word for how luscious this man was.

What a truly amazing week this had been for the red dragon! First he meets Mikan, and then he meets this amazing creature!

Natsume noted with a little bit of petulance, that this incredible Narumi –_or Naru hehehe so sounds so cuuute_- seemed to be paying more attention to Mikan than him. _Humph_ he pouted, that was not very good. He liked Mikan too. Couldn't they share? After that, his thoughts wandered into forbidden glitter filled daydreams of three people engaged in various forms of exotic love-play where he was the dominant male with his two gorgeous lovers next to him.

Oooohh! That was a fantastic idea! He thought lustfully. He would have to talk Mikan right away. Naru should live with them! It would be perfect! He was ready to suggest just that great idea when Naru turned his beautiful eyes back to Natsume.

"Why don't you head off back to town now? I will take care of her now." He asked in his musical voice.

Wow! What a fantastic idea! He was really amazing! Not only was he gorgeous, he was so smart! He could go back to town and arrange for a hotel room that they all could spend the night in! Natsume was so excited that he could do nothing more than nod his head eagerly. He turned and took one step towards town when Mikan stopped him.

"Wait." She told him. Wait? Why wait? Why was she interfering with his mission? Really, she may be his true mate, but she was really starting to get in the way. It was bad enough that Naru liked her better, did she have to-

"Natsume, what is wrong with you?" she demanded, gripping his arm. Natsume suddenly felt something like a bubble pop inside of him and with a dizzying rush he came back to reality.

"_I AM GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU!_" He screamed. It was probably a good thing Mikan was holding him at that moment because chances are, the young, and now quite humiliated red would have caused devastation similar to that of an atom bomb. As it was, his fire and her nullification flared hard against each other causing a magic backlash. Bright light suddenly blinded all three of them and knocked them all into the dirt.

Fueled by blinding rage, Natsume was the first to recover. Without even a moment's thought he sprang up, but instead of landing on two feet, he transformed and landed on four.

_KILL. _

_MUST KILL! _

_I'm going to bite off that disgusting head of yours and use it as a football. Then I'll disembowel you and weave your entrails into a net._

The son of a bitch blinked somewhat dazedly and barely registered surprise at the enormous body standing over him. Strange really, considering it was like a tiny Chihuahua dog standing up to a Clydesdale horse. And more importantly, in his dragon form, the freak's little pheromone induced love-spell would not work.

Natsume let out a deafening roar and slapped the ground with his tail hard enough to shake the leaves from the surrounding trees. Birds and woodland creatures started fleeing in a stampede as if he had already set fire to the forest.

In contrast, the only thing the ass could say was "Goodness aren't you big." Urgh, by the time Natsume was finished with him; even the forest scavengers would not want his remains.

Next to him, an annoying little mosquito was jumping about and trying her best to beat or pull on his huge foreclaw to draw his attention. "Natsume dammit, I said stop!" she screamed herself almost hoarse.

_Don't even think of stopping me Mikan. This disgusting sack of shit is dead! Dead, dead, dead, dead, DEAD! What he needs is a quick flying lesson._ He wondered if his murder victim would bounce first, or just go splat. Natsume was hoping for the splat. _But first…_ He used the foreclaw that Mikan was not trying to beat on to flick the blond man that had been trying to get up. Natsume barely touched him, but the guy made a rather nice crunching sound when he hit a tree and landed in a heap at the base of its trunk.

"Please Natsume!" Mikan screamed again, while running out in front of his target.

_Jeeze, Mikan, what is with you always doing the exact opposite of what I want? Can't you see the asshole has to die! I want him gone, down to his last molecule! _Why could she not understand that? Why did she always have to get in the way?

He extended his claw and tried to nudge her away, but she shot him a mutinous look before dropping to the ground and draping herself over his prey as a shield. Now to be honest, the sight did not send him into a mindless, jealous rage. Well, no more so than when the bastard first hugged her. Because he still had his bond with her, he could feel she was doing this to protect the man rather than out of affection, so he knew there were no romantic intentions on her part. No, all it did was make him more pissed off in a general sense.

_You are pushing it Mikan._ He warned her, while baring his sharp teeth and snarling at them. Obviously she could not hear the exact words from his mind, but she could surely feel the intent.

Instead of moving or being obstinate, she did something he was unable to explain.

She quickly turned to the jerk she was trying to protect and somehow did something that caused his already dazed eyes to glaze over and close. What she did to make him pass out like that, he could not say. The only reason he knew she did something was because he saw was a tiny flash of light and he felt the magic flutter against his awareness. Once she was done whatever it was she was doing though, she stood and pulled away from his target, moving closer to him.

_Just what is she up to?_ He would be an idiot to believe she had given up. His mate was way too stubborn for that.

Instead, she gave him a bright smile that made his body react in a way that had nothing to do with anger or rage. "Natsume," she began sweetly, "can you just hold off killing him long enough for me to find out what he knows about my mother?"

Just like it had with that Narumi creep, Natsume's view of Mikan seemed to go all hazy and sparkly. It took him a horrified moment to realize that she had somehow mimicked the bastard's seduction spell. But unlike that creep Narumi, their special bond gave her a pathway to use it while he was in his otherwise magic resistant dragon form. His tail curled and twitched and his eyes locked on to her like she was the only thing in the world.

The magic was imperfect though. Maybe it was because he was in dragon form, or that she was unused to using the magic, maybe it was because his never ending lust for her was natural, so he was somewhat immune. Whatever the cause, he was still somehow able to keep a part of his mind clear during the spell. All it really did was divert his anger to lust, which he always felt around her anyway.

Sensing the changes in him, she switched tactics to give him a sad puppy dog look. "Please Natsume?" Jeeze, she even quivered her bottom lip. Annoyed, he felt the bulk of his anger dissolve away. Rolling his large dragon eyes at her, he transformed back into his human form and snaked an arm around her waist, pulling her up against him.

"You. Owe. Me. Big." He growled at her before stealing a quick hot kiss.

"Thank you Natsume!" she smiled at him winningly which caused his arousal to spike.

"Don't even try to use his seduction trick." He warned darkly. "As it is, you are going to be paying for that little stunt tonight. And when this is all over, I am still going to kill him."

"Seduction?" she asked with a small frown.

"Yes. Seduction. What did you think he was doing?" he asked with a small frown of his own. She tried to imitate a spell without knowing what it was? What kind of idiot does that? She is luck it did not backfire on her.

"I thought it was some type of hypnosis." She answered honestly, causing him to give her an incredulous look. She what?

Her shook his head at her naiveté. "It took me a while to figure it out, but your new best friend is an incubus." He told her, while thinking back. He knew there was something about the way he spoke.

"An incubus?" she repeated in a somewhat distasteful tone. Obviously she had no idea that she was defending a psychic vampire who uses pheromone induced glamour to lure his victims. _Heh, not so fond of him now are you?_ And to think, she would not let him kill the guy. He gave her a hard look that caused her to stamp her foot and pout at him. "Don't look at me like that! How was I supposed to know what he was? Even if I had met one before, their charms would not have worked on me." Well, she had a point there.

"I have never met a male one before. I didn't know there were some that could cross genders like this one." Now that Natsume was looking at the incubus' unconscious form, he was quick to notice how androgynous he looked. It was brilliant really. By neither looking particularly or overly male or female, he can be attractive to both genders and his ability to lure in victims would be at least doubled. Once again Natsume warned himself not to underestimate the guy. He may look and act like an idiot, but there were telltale signs that those were just masks to fool the incredibly stupid.

As a pair, they moved up to the man and Mikan crouched down to try and revive him.

Natsume had not made an issue of how she was able to duplicate the incubus's pheromones, and time and necessity said that now was not the time to discuss such matters, but he had by no means forgotten it. Night was rapidly approaching so the matter would have to sit and wait. She was still hiding things from him and he intended to find them all out.

He did notice that up until now, Mikan had kept her right hand suspiciously closed like she was clutching something tightly. He also noticed that when she went to revive the blond, he could feel the small surge of magic from that same hand. Almost instantly after that, Narumi's eyes opened and he gave them a weak smile.

Just the sight of the man made Natsume's lip curl in disgust. Mikan might be okay with knowing an incubus, but he was not. He did not like anything about the guy and he had to forcibly try not to think about what the … _urgh_… man did to him. The whole thing made his blood go cold.

Narumi blinked a few times before focusing on them. Mikan gave him a weak smile. "I guess I did not get a chance to introduce myself. I'm Mikan Yukihara and this is Natsume Hyuuga."

Narumi gave her a small smile before a small frown marred his lovely face and he looked at Natsume with a puzzled look. "Hyuuga? Goodness! I did not notice before! Might you be Karou's son?" he asked and the world came to a screeching halt. Natsume felt his insides tighten at the sound of his mother's name. This guy knew his mother as well? _And on a first name basis no less._

The guy got up and brushed himself off before clapping his hands and beaming at them. "I don't know how I did not notice it before! You are the spitting image of your mother! Well this is a truly special occasion. Yuka and Izumi's daughter along with Karou's son both here! Together no less! Oh, there are so many people who are going to want to meet you!" The blond was almost bursting with excitement, which contrasted drastically with Natsume's shock.

Ever since he pulled Mikan out of the water, Natsume had felt like his life had been running wild and completely out of his control. He was not sure how many more surprises like this his heart could handle. "You knew my mother?" Natsume asked cautiously, wondering if there was some trick. She never once mentioned knowing an incubus or even being outside the clan.

Naru gave him a delighted smile. "Of course! We all used to be such good friends!"

Okay now he knew the guy was totally full of shit. Well… he was mostly sure… _there is no way my mother would have had anything to do with these people right?_ He asked himself, no longer feeling sure of the answer.

While Natsume stewed on that, Narumi put his fingers to his lips and let out a sharp whistle. "Misaki! Where are you?" he asked but was met with silence which caused Narumi to frown again. "I know you are here Misaki~chan, don't make me come look for you! I will not be hap~py!" He called out a little louder, but his threat was delivered in that same musical sing-song quality.

Natsume looked around trying to see if he sensed someone else`s presence, but the only thing he registered were trees. Still, he got the impression that something was watching them unseen.

After several minutes of waiting, a shape started to break itself away from the largest tree in the area. At first, Natsume could not see anything other than the tree, but then the bark started to move and reform into a man until it finally broke free into a very grouchy looking man.

The newcomer had black hair and almost black eyes. He was glaring at Narumi with his arms crossed in front of his chest. "I told you to never ever to call me that." He said irritably and then he looked at Natsume and Mikan. For a second, the red dragon was sure there was surprise in the tree man`s eyes before it disappeared under his sour attitude. "What do you want?" he snapped.

"I need you to open up a path for these two." Narumi told him cheerfully.

The man Misaki flicked a glance at the two dragons then back at the incubus. "We don't let their kind in." he said bluntly. Natsume was trying not to be offended because he knew that dragons probably did not have the best reputation around Japan, but he could not help but stiffen at the guy's attitude.

Narumi did not even pause at the implied insult. "Come now you know as well as I that these are not just any ordinary visitors. This is Yuka and Karou's children we are talking about! Open the path before I become annoyed."

Misaki looked a little alarmed by the threat and looked at the underbrush behind him. Natsume did not see him do anything, but all of a sudden where there were once impassable brambles and bushes, there was now a clear path. And if he was not mistaken, that looked like the last rays of afternoon sunlight gleaming off water at the end of the path.

"Wow!" Mikan exclaimed excitedly.

Narumi grinned at her reaction. "We usually keep a barrier up to avoid outside intruders." He explained.

So that was why they kept walking in circles.

As a group they began to walk the path and both dragons noticed that as they progressed along the path, the plant life moved back in place behind them. Natsume was mildly impressed, but Mikan was gaping at it like she had never seen magic before. "I wish I could do something like that." She said wistfully.

Misaki's cheeks started to tint pink, but it was Narumi who said something. "Misaki is a sage. You might they are also call them druids. As you can see his magic works mostly around plants. He is quite an asset around here."

"And where is here?" Natsume asked in a barely polite tone. He still did not like the incubus. Unlike Mikan's uncle Tsubasa who he might actually learn to like, he doubted he would ever like this jerk.

Narumi and Misaki looked a little bit uncomfortable about his question. Misaki gave Narumi a warning look, but Narumi answered it anyway. "This is the last haven for any mystical creatures in Japan who do not support the dragon king."

Natsume felt his eyebrows shoot up. He did not think there was anyone left in Japan that did not owe fealty to his grandfather.

"Naru you are saying too much. He may be Karou's son, but he is still _that man's_ grandson." Misaki growled. Natsume did not know what to say to that. He could claim he was different from his grandfather, but there was no way he could prove it. Instead, he chose to stay silent on the matter.

As they moved forward, the trees started to give way to shorter brush, and then even the brush thinned out as they got closer to the water. Next to him, he could feel his mate's excitement as they got closer to the lake. Come to think of it, he should probably get her in the water soon. She had only had a brief chance to take a dip in order to heal some of the marks he had put on her earlier. He took her hand and laced his fingers with hers, broadcasting feelings of affection.

As the last of the trees blocking their vision of the lake disappeared, Natsume was shocked to find dozens of houses surrounding the lakeshore. It was like a smaller version of the clan estate except without the exclusivity and prejudice of a dragon clan. Natsume himself could sense and smell a dozen different species all living together in this community.

_How have they all managed to escape the old man's notice?_ He wondered.

As soon as they were clear of the trees, Naru directed them towards a small old house on the lake edge. "Before we do anything else, we have to meet the old man in charge of the place." He told them then turned to the sage "Misaki-" he began, but was cut off when the sage raised his hand to halt his words.

"Don't bother; I'll go let people know we have guests." He said in his grumpy way before leaving.

They followed Narumi up to the house where he knocked once and went in without waiting for a reply. "Jii-chan?" he called out. "You will never guess who I met today at the barrier." He called moving quickly from room to room while Mikan and Natsume stood awkwardly in the doorway. It was not a very large house and looking through it did not take all that long. Narumi must have found the home empty, because he was moving back towards them.

They were about to leave when they all heard the sound of shuffling steps coming from behind them. Natsume turned to find a very old, very short, very bald, very withered old man wearing nothing but flip-flops and a fundoshi. He briefly closed his eyes for fear the image of a short, wrinkly old man in his underwear would be burned into his retinas. Next to him, Mikan let out a tiny sound before dropping her eyes uncomfortably to the ground.

The old man continued to shuffle closer to Mikan until he was uncomfortably close to her causing her to squirm. Reflexively, Natsume pulled her closer to him and gave the old man a warning look that the geezer ignored.

"Do my old eyes deceive me or is that our Yuka-chan coming back to us?" he asked in a reed-thin voice.

Narumi thankfully took over from there "Jii-chan, this is Yuka and Izumi's daughter, Mikan!" he said in that loud voice you use for old people that are hard of hearing.

"Yuka's girl you say?" he asked and pointed a gnarled finer at Mikan "Girl you look just like your mother did at your age. And who is this strapping young thing next to you?" He asked, giving Natsume a look that had him fighting not to squirm as well. Natsume was about to introduce himself when they heard others approach.

The first was a lovely young woman with silvery-black hair curled cutely into ringlets and silvery eyes. Unless Natsume missed his guess, this was a snow woman, but it was her companion that held his attention.

He was about Natsume's height with messy black hair and maroon colored eyes a shade or two darker than Natsume's own eyes. Natsume stared at him for several seconds trying to assimilate what he was seeing. He recognized the features easily but had never seen the relaxed, friendly look on them. Hell, the man was smiling! He did not know that face could smile! Even the scent of him was somewhat off. Still, he was getting closer to Mikan, so Natsume shoved his mate behind him and dropped into a fighting stance.

"Persona!" he growled darkly, "What are you doing here!"

tbc

* * *

AN: Before we go any further, the answer is no, no and yes.

No, you did not just read a typo.

No, Persona does not have a twin brother.

Yes it is an annoying cliffhanger and I will start to explain what is going on next chapter. I can say it is unusual but it is the last of the major surprises I have.

Whew! It has been a busy few weeks for me! The worst part was that I had to write a certification exam. It is for my job. I don't want to get too detailed at explaining what I do because quite frankly it would be a pain. Suffice it to say this, I work in environmental protection and in order to move up in my job, I have to take higher levels of government certification. I'm trying not to stress out about how I did. Some questions I smoked through and others I'm not so sure about.

…

WAHH I failed! I know I failed!

…

Ahem…

Okay I don't really get the results for another few weeks, but you know what is really disturbing? Writing a test you don't feel extremely confident about and then finding you were the first finished. I did just that. I wrote the test and had to wait outside the testing hall for a few co-workers only to find I WAS THE ONLY ONE DONE. Instantly I was like 'Oh no! I must have done something wrong! Did I miss any questions? Why am I done so far before all the others?' It was a very creepy feeling because once you leave the testing hall you cannot go back in.

Oh well, the worst thing that can happen is that I have to re-write the test. WAHH I DON'T WANNA RE-WRITE IT! IT WAS HARD!

Ahem…

I'm calm. I must remain calm. No amount of panicking or whining will change my test score now.

Anyhow I regret that I did not get much time to answer reviews like I normally try to do. I will try next time. I hope to have a few days off soon so maybe I can push ahead in my story a bit faster. That is of course unless they call me to come into work on my days off. Seriously, we have been so busy that almost every day I have off they are calling to ask me to come in. I'm starting to get worn out. I feel like yelling into the phone 'Leave me alone you stalkers!' but I don't think any supervisors would be thrilled to hear that.

Maybe I should just change my number.

Or better yet, shut off my phone.

At least you guys cheer me up!


	24. Chapter 24

Disclaimer – GA characters completely not mine. Warning – chapter like most, not properly betaed. I know I can spell just fine but typing is another matter so feel free to send me a quick PM for any atrocious typos you find.

* * *

A Dragon's Heart – Chapter 24

"Persona!" he growled darkly, "What are you doing here!"

That caused the people in front of him to stop and give each other awkward puzzled looks. Not that Natsume was able to notice though. His attention was focused solely on Persona. However, the man in question had a rather unusual reaction to his outburst.

Persona's smile wobbled on his face and he flicked his eyes to the others standing around as if he was waiting for one of them to explain what was happening. Everyone else returned his glance with one that seemed just as confused as his was. Natsume however wasn't fooled. _The bastard has probably been playing them for a while. Toying with them and letting them believe they are safe before he crushes them._ He summoned a ball of fire in preparation to attack.

Natsume could take his uncle, he was fairly sure of it. Natsume might be young, but he was still a red dragon where Persona was only a black. The problem was not one of strength, but of collateral damage. With so many others around, and Persona's rotting death alice, it was likely that some of the people around them would get hurt in the cross fire. Quickly, his mind started flitting through a myriad of possibilities trying to find the best attack with the least amount of damage. His mind was working at a dizzying speed while the others were still staring at each other in the awkward tableau he'd created. He was still puzzling through a plan of attack when Persona finally spoke up.

"Um, I'm sorry. I thought you would have remembered me. You were probably about nine or ten years old the last time I saw you." The black dragon cautiously stepped forward. "You have grown a lot since then, and if I know my father, a lot has probably happened to you." He said, giving Natsume a wary look that switched into a self depreciating smile. "I guess it would only be natural for you to have forgotten me. I am Serio Kuonji. I am your-" He started to explain, but Natsume cut him off.

"I know exactly who you are! Now cut the crap! What the hell are you doing here with these people?" Natsume snarled. Who the heck did this guy think he was kidding? _ 'You have grown a lot and a lot has happened to you' indeed. What does he think he is trying to pull? I've already busted him, why does he bother trying to keep up the act? What is he trying to hide?_ No matter how Natsume twisted his logic, nothing made sense.

Next to him, Mikan gently laid her hand on his arm causing his fire to sputter out. He shot a quick look at her. Now was not a good time for her to interfere. Just what the heck did she think she was doing? Did she not understand he was trying to protect her?

Surprisingly, she returned his look with a rather intense one herself. "Natsume, I don't think he is lying." She said.

Was she stupid? Of course he is lying! The guy exists in lies and deceptions! He was going to say just that, but something made him turn back to look at his uncle. And that was when he saw what she was seeing.

The man before him certainly looked like his uncle, but there were tiny, almost infinitesimal differences. The differences were extremely subtle. Like telling the difference between two identical twins, but they were there. The face was slightly fleshier and less gaunt than the Persona he knew and his body did not have the almost skeletal thinness. The man in front of him was by no means fat, but he had that softer look of one who did not spend his whole life keeping fit so he could perform assassinations. Not only that, but his hair was longer and his skin was slightly darker than Persona's pasty white.

Natsume knew there were tricks that a person could use to make their skin a shade or two darker, their hair look a little longer and make it look like they had gained a bit of weight, so it was possible he was still be looking at the same Persona. But if he was going to bother that much with disguising himself, why not change his whole appearance? Why only make small changes? It made no sense.

Natsume looked at the man before him and found himself feeling a little less sure of the man's identity. There was no way there could be two Personas, but who was he looking at if not Persona?

Still, Persona could be damn tricky and this could just be another one of his mind games.

He lowered his arms ever so slightly, but remained ready for any trick. "Alright, just who are you? I just spoke to Serio Kuonji a few days ago." he demanded, using his uncle's formal name rather than his more common alias.

That question got a rather interesting reaction from everyone with the exception of Mikan. Almost as one all of their mouths sagged open and they shot each other another round of confused glances and they started talking to each other one on top of the other.

"That is not possible."

"Eh?"

"What is he talking about?"

Narumi held his hands up "Now, now there must be some sort of confusion. I'm not sure who this 'Persona' person is, but Serio has been living with us and helping us for the last several years." He explained in a placating tone while the rest of them gave Natsume uneasy looks like they were unsure of his mental stability. He was tempted to scorch them all for their rude looks, but Mikan prevented that with her gentle touch.

Mikan spoke into the uneasy silence. "It is true. Although I have only just met him, the man who introduced himself to me as Serio Kuonju looked just like you. A little more harsh and scary looking though."

A lot of frowns developed at that statement. _Oh sure, they are willing to believe her but not me?_ Narumi spoke up first. "That doesn't make any sense. Who could that be? A doppelganger?" he asked the group.

The young woman with the silvery hair and eyes shook her head ever so slightly. "No. I think… I would notice if a doppelganger had tried to copy… or feed… off of my mate." She said in a voice so quiet, Natsume would not have been able to hear it if he were a normal human. She was also doing her best to hide behind his uncle causing Natsume to blink surprised at her.

His mate? Natsume had difficulties connecting a mental image of his uncle with a mate. There was a very faint memory from his childhood about his mother arguing with… someone… about Serio that involved a girl, but the image was so faint he could not get a grasp of it. Since then however, other than a few tales about him terrorizing some of the concubines, he virtually asexual.

And now he was supposed to believe this timid snow woman was the mysterious Persona-look-alike's mate? That just defied the laws of nature. How could such a shy, quiet looking woman be his uncle's mate? Now he was certain there was something weird happening. The Persona he knew would have completely crushed such a fragile creature with his forceful nature.

Narumi nodded in agreement to the snow woman's comment. "I agree. I would know if there was another psychic vampire in the area. An illusion maybe? But to cover up what?"

The man Serio, -Natsume was finding it harder to call him Persona- shook his head with a puzzled look on his face. "I'm not sure why my father would want another me. I was always a point of embarrassment for him being only black and choosing a non-dragon mate. So who is this Personal or Persona person? Does father even know it is not me?"

Instead anyone answering, the short old man in front of Mikan made a frustrated growling sound. "Bah, you young people always make such a big fuss over things!" he began waving his arms trying to shoo Natsume out of his way. The young red stepped aside and the old man started shuffling into his house. "Come now, Yuka-chan's daughter is here! We should be eating good food and drinking sake!" he announced before disappearing into the house. Natsume and Mikan were wondering if they should follow, but Narumi held up his hand to stop them.

"I was afraid he was going to say that." He let out a sigh and gave Mikan a severe look making Natsume to want to knock him on his ass again. "Listen, around here Ji-chan is what you might consider our leader, but as you can see he is getting quite old so most of his duties are taken over by another."

Mikan nodded to show she was paying attention while Natsume looped his arm around her shoulders and glared at the incubus. Narumi took that as his cue to continue.

"Hime is… well… she is a little… different." He explained carefully, which caused Perso- no Serio to snort and loop his own arm around the snow woman's shoulders in a perfect imitation of Natsume's movements. _Weird seeing Persona's face almost laugh._

"It might be safe to day she has a few strange personality quirks." Narumi continued.

"And she is getting stranger lately." Serio added, causing Narumi to give him an impatient look that clearly said 'you are not helping' which caused Serio to shrug and tighten his hold on his mate. Whoever this woman was it was clear his uncle had an issue with her.

"I don't get it," Mikan said, "What is so strange about her?"

"Well she is attracted to women for one thing. Which in itself is not bad," Narumi continued to explain, while waving his hands around. "It is just that she likes to keep a harem of her favorites and…"

"And she doesn't know when to stay away from something that doesn't belong to her." His uncle growled, causing Natsume's eyebrows to shoot up.

It was then that Natsume picked up Serio's unique body language. He did not know why he did not pick up on it before, but from the moment they started talking about this Hime woman, his uncle had began almost cocooning his mate with his body.

As Natsume was just starting to learn, Dragon's were extremely territorial, but when it came to mates, they were virtually obsessive. With his newfound experience in the matter, he could now recognize the way his uncle was hunched protectively around the snow woman as if he was worried someone might try and steal her away. In his mind's eye he could almost sense Serio's dragon form superimposed over his human one, the larger form shielding her with claws, tail, wings and teeth.

If Natsume needed anymore proof that this was not Persona, he just had it confirmed. The Persona he knew cared about no one other than himself, and he would have easily killed someone who had their eyes on what was his.

During this time, Narumi was still talking, but for the most part Natsume was ignoring him. "…dislikes men immensely and…"

_I don't care if she is a woman or not. If she even thinks of looking at Mikan funny I'll burn her bald._

"… shouldn't be a problem since she currently has a favorite, so we should be okay…" Narumi continued his prattle and Natsume had no idea what he was talking about so he just cut in over the incubus.

"Look, this little reunion thing is all very nice and all, but we don't have a lot of time. We really just came here to find the home of Mikan's mother and try and find out what happened to her father." He stated.

This generated another round of puzzled looks but the response to that comment did not come from them, it came from behind him. "Isn't it obvious boy? The king killed him in a challenge to become Yuka's mate." The papery thin voice of the old man stated sending his mind into a tailspin.

He wanted to what? Mikan's mother as the old bastard's mate? _You want to run that past me again? I think I must have been hallucinating the first time._

Natsume turned around and found that the old man had changed into a yukata. A fact for which Natsume was extremely grateful. He did not want to have to look at his old wrinkly raisin body any more than he already had.

The old man picked up the conversation that had begun before he had disappeared into the house. "Say boy, who were you again? You look familiar." He asked while squinting up at Natsume before he broke out into a wheezing laugh. "But I guess at two hundred and sixteen everyone can start to look familiar, eh boy?" he wheezed and smacked Natsume on the arm.

Natsume's head was still spinning at the thought of Mikan's mother being his grandfather's mate. He spared a quick look at his own mate and found she was faring no better. Her eyes were staring off into space and her face was scrunched up into a little frown.

He looked back at the old man who looked like he was completely unaware that he had just dropped a bombshell on them._ I don't know which is weirder. The Persona look-alike or this old guy. _Still, two hundred and sixteen years was impressive. He wondered what he would be like at that age. Would he be this lively? Would Mikan still be there? _She would have to be._

"Ji-chan," Narumi began, while moving uncomfortably close to Natsume. "This is Karou's son, Natsume." He said introducing them.

That caused more wrinkles to appear on the old man's face as his eyebrows went up. "Eh? Karou-chan's son? With Yuka-chan's daughter?" the old man started his wheezing laugh again. The old guy kept up the disturbing sound so long that Natsume began wondering if he was having some sort of fit or something. "By god that's a good one! I bet that burns your old man's backside!" he crowed and slapped Serio on the arm between wheezes.

In his head Natsume found the whole exchange slightly surreal including the fond smiles on Narumi, Serio and the snow woman gave the old man. Everything was just too hard to wrap his mind around.

"Whoa, wait! Just what do you mean he challenged Mikan's father to become Yuka's mate?" in the corner of his vision he could see Mikan nodding emphatically.

The old man waved his hands negligently clearly choosing to ignore the question. "Bah, that is nothing but an old story! We can talk about that later, right now there is celebrating to be done!" he announced and marched off in his Yukata and flip flops.

Natsume tried hard not to grind his teeth in frustration. The day's trials were really starting to wear on him. He had no idea why he had not gone berserk already. With Mikan running away, the evacuation, trying to find this lake, Narumi putting him under a love spell, and now this old man was hiding the knowledge that they had come all this way for?

A week ago he was sure he would have burnt the whole community to the ground. He looked down at Mikan who felt every bit as frustrated as he was but was doing a much better job than he at enduring it. Was she responsible for the changes in him?

She sensed his look and gave him a small smile. "I've waited this long, I suppose I can wait a little longer. I can't really hear him, but I have a feeling Tsubasa and the others are still alright. Besides it is almost night and I will need to swim soon." Her eyes changed and took on a more serious glint. "I promise that we will leave at the first sign of anything happening to the others. Even if we don't get any more information about my mother." She said, and he had no doubt she meant it. Pride and affection beat heavily in his chest. She had come all this way, but she would abandon her search to help his people. If there were not so many people around, he would be eagerly showing his appreciation of how amazing she was.

As a group, they all headed off towards the largest building in the community. Ji-chan was in the lead followed by Serio and his snow woman. Natsume and Mikan were close behind them and Naru trailed behind them all. Every now and then they could hear the old man would blurt out something like "Yuka and Karou's children together!" and start laughing to himself, but for the most part, it was a quiet group. Like Natsume, everyone was busy sorting out their thoughts.

Looking around, the red dragon saw several people giving him peculiar looks. There were probably very few strangers showing up here. Probably even less dragons. As he walked he found some of the creatures he could identify, but others eluded him.

It was weird thinking that there was this community full of different mystical creatures including his uncle that was living right under his king's nose. They were all living in relative comfort with one another without all of the innuendoes, backstabbing and scheming like there was in his clan. In his clan everyone lived in fear of his grandfather, whereas here they all deferred to this strange old man. O_ut of respect for his age_? Or something else?

The real shocker was that they all knew his mother. Mikan's he could kind of understand, but his… how could they have all known his mother? She had never once mentioned anyone outside of the clan or even being out of the clan, so who was she to these people? He was itching to add that to a whole list of questions, but until the old man felt like sharing, he had a feeling he was not going to get any answers.

At one point in their walk the snow woman turned and gave Mikan a shy look. "Erm… I didn't get to mention… I'm Nobara Ibaragi." She said quietly while almost hiding behind Serio. Natsume was not sure what to make of that introduction, but Mikan chose to shine her most winning smile which made the other woman give a small smile in return.

Serio smiled at his mate "I'm sorry, I should have introduced you. Nobara has not had many good experiences with dragons so she tends to get a little shy around them." He said while smiling fondly at his mate.

_A little shy? She looks like she wants to sink into the earth. Then again I can just guess what kind of 'experiences' she has had with dragons if she was anywhere near the clan or the king._

Again that memory of his mother arguing about his uncle and a girl niggled at the back of his mind. He tried to make a grab for it but it slithered away. It was like remembering a line in a song but not being able to remember the title. Eventually he hoped he would be able to piece the memory back together, but there were so many other puzzles taking priority right now. It would have to wait.

As they approached the large two story pagoda, a group of young, elaborately dressed, attractive women swarmed out and over them. Much to Natsume's distaste they were all tittering and giggling excitedly making him want to cringe. Most of them smelled like animal and forest spirits but there was a few other creatures mixed in. Their excited chatter came at him one on top of the other until it was mashed into one big noise and it was hard to separate what they were all saying.

"Is it true?"

"Is what Misaki said true?"

"Karou and Yuka's children?"

"Oh! He is so handsome!"

"Just like his mother!"

"Is that really Yuka-sempai's daughter?"

"Kind of plain looking."

"I thought she would be prettier!"

"Karou's son can stay with me!"

At that point is was only pride that kept Natsume from hiding behind Mikan for protection. As it turned out though, he did not need to. He heard Mikan growl low in her throat, grab his arm like a vice and glare at the women who were almost close enough to touch him.

That little show of possessiveness almost made the hell he had endured that day worth it. It certainly filled him with an immense feeling of contentment.

Narumi clapped his hands sharply drawing everyone's attention to him. "Now girls, don't crowd them. By the looks of them, they have had a very long and difficult day."

A young woman that looked a bit more dignified than the others broke away from the group. "We have prepared tea and snacks for everyone. This way please." She instructed.

The moment she mentioned food, Mikan's stomach let out a rather embarrassing rumble. _ We did not get much of a chance to eat today._ He thought to himself. They did not eat much last night either. The last time they really ate was when they were at the beach sharing his bento. He felt a small tinge of annoyance at himself for that._ Not a very good way to take care of a mate._ He made a mental note to make sure she ate and to get her into the water before they slept tonight.

His annoyance at himself was short lived though because he noticed the girls surrounding them gave Mikan a disgusted look like she had belched or farted instead showing she was hungry. Their looks might not have upset him if he was not able to feel how uncomfortable they were making her feel. He was tempted to burn their hair off, but the issue was quickly solved when his own stomach let out its own loud complaints. Apparently the irritating women did not mind him being hungry as they sniggered into their sleeves and directed them into the building.

They were led to a rather large room where a stunning woman with long black hair dark expressionless eyes knelt on a dais. The woman was wearing a very expensive looking kimono and clearly looked the part of her princess title. At the foot of the dais knelt a woman who was just as elegantly dressed as the others giving them an unreadable look. The woman on dais was stroking her hair as if she were some sort of pet.

Ji-chan walked up and inclined his head to her while others gave her a deep bow. In turn, the woman inclined her head back at him at exactly the same angle. Whoever these two people were, it was clear they were considered equals and the rest were clearly of a lower rank.

For himself, Natsume neither bowed nor nodded. He was not sure how their rank equated to his, but he would not bow to anyone. He readjusted his hold on Mikan, refusing to let her bow either.

"Hime, we have some special guests today. Yuka's daughter and Karou's son." The woman that guided them announced in a clear voice.

The woman nodded her head in acknowledgement. "Special indeed. I would never have expected to see either one of them, much less both of them together." Her gaze drifted to Mikan. "Tell me, daughter of Yuka, how is your mother?"

Mikan tried to slip out of Natsume's hold be he refused to let go of her. If this woman really did have an eye for girls he wanted to make it clear straight off that Mikan was his and his alone. In retaliation to his possessiveness, he felt Mikan's embarrassment and annoyance flare inside her forcing him to compromise by pulling back to simple hand holding.

Once she was free, Mikan nodded and cleared her throat. "You can call me Mikan, Mikan Yukihara, I am sorry to tell you my mother passed away shortly after I was born. I actually came here to find out more about her."

A small glimmer of sadness that was gone almost as soon as it happened was the only evidence that the woman had even felt anything about Yuka's death. If he had blinked, probably would not have seen any reaction whatsoever.

However, Natsume did notice the reaction from the woman at the bottom of the dais. What was really strange was that it was not grief but anger that he felt from her along with a strong hostile intent. He was tempted to push Mikan behind him but the look and the feelings were quickly concealed. Oh how he wished he had Koko right about now to find out what was going on around him. He made another mental note to keep his eye on the woman.

"I am sorry to hear of your loss Mikan Yukihara. Yuka was a very kind special woman to us and she will be greatly missed." Hime said formally. "I was also distressed to hear of your mother's passing Natsume Hyuuga. We were very close once and she used to visit us often before you were born. You both are quite fortunate to have grown into almost exact images of such wonderful women."

Natsume and Mikan both nodded in recognition of her words. What else could someone do when paid a compliment like that?

"Well it seems we both have questions. You wish to find out more about your mother and I am most curious as to how it is you are with the grandson of the man who caused your parents' deaths. However, you both look like you need to rest. Shizune, please have some refreshments brought in for them." She ordered, and within minutes they were seated on the floor with tea and a wide array of foods in front of them.

Next to them the old man Ji-chan started drinking sake like it could disappear at any moment. The old man seemed upset but not surprised by the news of Yuka's death. Looking at him, Natsume could not see why the people in this community considered him their head. What was he anyway?

"Excuse me, I don't mean to be rude but just what is this place? Don't you find having a community such as this dangerous with the king so close by?"

The old man who was starting to get rosy cheeks, blurted out "King! Bah! He is nothing more than a greedy brat of a tyrant!" he yelled, then reduced to irritated grumblings.

Natsume wanted to wince at Ji-chan's choice of words. Although they were probably technically true, he had yet to meet anyone who got away with talking about his grandfather like that.

At that point Hime chose to speak up "Most of the creatures here cannot leave Japan for one reason or another so they flock to Inari for protection."

Inari? The Inari? "Inari? As in kami of rice, foxes and industry Inari?" he asked incredulously. Wasn't he/she/it/they just a myth?

The princess and the women around him seemed amused by his reaction. "But of course, who did you think he was?" Hime asked while nodding in the direction of the old man that was trying to get himself drunk in record time.

"He's Inari?" he asked, in a clearly disbelieving tone.

"I thought he was just a sea dragon." Mikan announced immediately after him causing him to blink in surprise at her as well. He was a sea dragon? Truthfully he could not tell what the old man was. His scent held the residuals of power, but like the man, it felt like it was withering away. From that it was almost impossible to identify his species. Given the lake nearby he could believe Ji-chan was a sea dragon, but a god?

Narumi broke into their conversation. "Well yes, technically he is a sea dragon, but Inari is more of a title rather than an actual individual creature. As you may already know, Inari has been depicted as male, female, androgynous and even a group of entities. This actually reflects the current holder of the title. The title actually represents a pact between us and humans. Their prayers to us give us strength, and in turn we maintain the balance between our world and theirs. Actually, it was humans who started calling us kami not us."

"So you are all Inari?" Mikan asked sounding as confused as Natsume felt.

"No. That title only goes to the one strong enough to carry it. After Ji-chan steps down Hime-sama will take over the responsibility. It is her incredible barrier that protects this place right now."

Hime gave Narumi an odd look. "Such kind words Narumi yet you neglect to mention that you would succeed if anything should happen to me."

The incubus made a rather distasteful face. It was obvious that he did not want the title.

For the first time since arriving, the woman kneeling in front of Hime spoke. "Perhaps now that the daughter of Yuka has returned to her proper home, she could take Naru's place if he is so unwilling."

Most of the people including Natsume were shocked by the woman's suggestion. Mikan looked like she was no more interested in the job than Narumi.

Hime reached out and stroked the woman's pale silvery blond hair. "It does not look like she is fond of your suggestion Luna. Perhaps she does not see the home of her mother's people as her home. Although she would be a welcome addition."

At that moment Natsume was not sure if he imagined it or not but he thought he felt a small tingle of magic emanating from the odd woman Luna. She was definitely someone he was going to have to keep an eye on.

* * *

Tbc

AN: What a day Natsume is having. Maybe he can convince Mikan to spoil him. Give him a back rub or something.

I know this chapter was slow coming out but as you can see a lot is starting to happen. Somehow there are two Persona/Serio's Luna has finally made an appearance.

Sheesh, I hope I don't lose too many in the confusion.

Thank you again and always for those of you wonderful people who sent reviews!


	25. Chapter 25

Sheesh, I'm already up to 25 chapters? I had figured I would be done by now for sure! Wishful thinking on my part.

A Dragon's Heart – Chapter 25

Everything was progressing fairly smoothly. Tsubasa and one of the air dragons named Sakurano had been able to come up with a decent reason to gather most of the people that would require help during the evacuation. So far they had managed to gather all of the kids and most of the non-combatants under the guise of having a beach party in honor of the visiting sea dragons. For the most part everyone played their part well and looked like they were enjoying themselves. They ate food grilled on an open fire, played in the water, and lounged on the beach. It was only when you looked closely at the adults of the group that one might see a tense edge to their happy expressions.

To avoid risk they unanimously decided to not let the younglings know anything until after they left.

By now the afternoon shadows were growing long and people were starting to move their play up to the sandy beach where they had just started up a bonfire. The plan was going quite smoothly if you didn't count the fact that they were being watched.

Tsubasa strolled up to his new mate and embraced her from behind. "Hello gorgeous." He said quietly into her ear. Misaki rolled her eyes in a great show of exasperation but the effect was ruined by the way the corners of her mouth wanted to curve up. His woman was always like that. She was strong and tough on the outside but once you got past that hard exterior she was actually pretty soft and fragile on the inside. Even though they had already exchanged oaths, she still had difficulties coping with displays of affection. It did not matter; he had a whole lifetime to assure her that he was the one for her and he was not going anywhere.

"So what did you find?" she asked quietly.

"That Imai girl was right. There are eight men hiding to the north of the beach. I had to stretch my shadow a bit, but I was able to find them all."

"Did you do anything to them?"

"No, I did not want to alert anyone just yet. I should be able to take them all out with my shadow control when the time comes." The whole conversation was kept in low tones that barely made it to the other's ears.

He had been more than a little disconcerted when the strange Imai girl had come up to them and not only told them she had the entire estate on surveillance, but that they were being watched by the king's men. He had expected as much, but he was not expecting there to be as many as there were. It might make things tricky when they wanted to leave.

Several minutes later Luka with both of the Imai siblings and a couple whose names Tsubasa had to struggle to remember as Yuu and Nonoko, approached him carrying plates of food.

Luka moved in close to him "I saved you some food." He said loudly before sitting down close to them. Tsubasa had to hand to the kid. He had heard about the girl being taken and he had known just by their scent alone when he met them that they were lovers. The shadow manipulator gave the blond draman a critical eye and could see the strain from being separated from his lover Aoi. Luka looked much more haggard and worn thin. The loss was written in the hard lines on his handsome face, but he was still working hard to support this evacuation.

_Does this kid have that much faith in his brother? _He wondered.

This Natsume guy that had a thing for his niece evoked quite the loyalty from his people. Tsubasa did not want to admit it, but he was growing to like the jerk.

Once Luka was close enough, he started talking low under his breath "We have found the people hiding along the western length of the beach. The Imai's and Nonoko have cooked up some sort of tranquilizer dart and smoke bombs that should be able to help us."

"Good. Where are they?" Tsubasa asked in just as low a voice while taking the offered plate and picking at it in a show of eating.

"We have already distributed them among our guards. Are you sure you will be okay handling the boats?"

"Once we are in the water, nothing can compete with us. Is there anything else?" he asked quietly.

The older Imai, Subaru, came closer to them. "Shuichi mentioned that bear of yours."

"Mr. Bear? What about him?"

"He says he has been acting strange. He attacked one of the children."

Damn. Tsubasa had tried to impress the importance of what they were doing to Bear, but obedience was never in his nature. The best one could hope for was temporary cooperation, but Bear had been pretty annoyed about Mikan leaving him alone again. He would have to try and talk to him again but once the bear was in one of his moods, no one was truly safe. "Which kids has he attacked?"

"The one sitting off to the side with the dark hair." That didn't seem right. Only one kid? Strange. Bear was certainly a hazard to children, but in a non-discriminating way. With the exception of Mikan and himself, he hated everyone equally. It was more plausible that he would attack everyone rather than one kid. Did the kid do something to antagonize him?

"Only the one?" he asked, causing Subaru to nod. "I'll talk to him." He agreed.

"Has anyone come up with a destination?" Luka asked quietly and all but Tsubasa gave the draman blank looks. Clearly they were hoping to be in a situation where Natsume would be making the decisions. Either that or they were too scared to think far. With that in mind, he cleared his throat.

"I spoke with my brother Tono a while ago. He had already planned out an island to the south of here to retreat to after he completed his job. It should suit our purposes for now as well."

The others all nodded to show they were listening.

"It might be a bit far for the younger flyers, but we should all be able to get there easily enough. It sounds like it is isolated enough for us to hide out during the day before we move again at night."

Again, he got another round of mute nods and he resisted the urge not to sigh. It looked like he was the one that was going to have to do all the work.

"When we move, we will have to separate into smaller groups, but all groups should have at least two fighters with them in case we are chased. Misaki, Sumire and I are all very capable of fighting in the water so we should be okay but it wouldn't hurt to have a few dragons that the younger ones recognize in order to keep them calm. Yuu, if you and your mate Nonoko could come with Misaki and me it would be a great help. And if you Subaru, and your mate could travel with Sumire and that kid Koko that keeps hanging around her that should be enough support for them. Luka, you are free to come with either one." He said, but something told him the draman would not be traveling very far with them. If he were in the guy's place, he would probably see that everyone got away before doubling back to where his woman was.

"As an added bit of security, I'm going to hold off giving you the coordinates for the island until after midnight. By then we should know if we are being followed or not.

After that, everyone dispersed and they continued with their charade of a beach party while waiting for night.

Whew. Everything was mostly going according to plan. With any luck they might just pull this off.

* * *

Mikan instantly dismissed the Luna woman's suggestion as stupid. Because that is what it was. Stupid. Really, did this woman think she had no life of her own that she would just drop everything to become their backup god and protector? Ridiculous.

The woman should just stick to being a… pet? Lover? Plaything? Well, whatever it was that she did. She was certainly no help to Mikan.

In the back of her mind she could feel the approaching sunset and imminent evacuation of Natsume's people. She gave him a quick look. Even though he was not openly showing it, she knew the same thoughts were not far from his mind either.

He was here for her sake when she knew he would rather be somewhere else. The least she could do was speed up the process.

"I hope you will forgive me Hime, but I do not have much time. The reason I came here was to talk to someone who knew my mother. I really do appreciate the wonderful hospitality, but I was really just hoping I could talk to you and Ji-chan alone for a few minutes?" she faltered for a moment wondering how rude that sounded. These people really had no need to know about Natsume's clan business, kidnapped girls or evacuations. It would be best to keep things simple and leave it at that simple request.

A small throbbing vein at the temple of the woman on the dais was the only indication that Mikan had that the woman had even heard her. Judging by the way the vein was throbbing; the woman was not pleased with the request.

After a few awkward moments of silence, Hime turned to the woman who first guided them in. "Shizune, can you please have someone go over to open up Yuka's place? The rest of you leave us."

Most of the women filed out showing only the slightest amount of disappointment at being unable to visit with the new comers. A few gave Natsume hopeful looks that Mikan was sorely tempted to slap off their faces but their target was not even looking at them to register their interest. He was looking at Luna who had yet to move from her spot. _Is she hoping to stay and listen?_ Mikan wondered to herself.

"Uhm… excuse me? If you don't mind, could you give us a few minutes of privacy?" Mikan directed the question to the pet/plaything at the foot of the dais. The woman Luna looked at Mikan with surprise then looked up to give Hime a pleading look. She looked like a child looking for permission to stay up after bedtime.

It surprised her that the woman would be so openly rude and nosy regarding Mikan's private affairs until she felt the tingle of magic bump up against her nullification. Without really thinking about it, she nullified the magic and was not very surprised to find the source was near the dais. Was the woman really that nosy to resort to some sort of trick?

Hime returned Luna's look and ordered "Leave us." At which point, Luna seemed quite shocked and swiveled to give Mikan an odd look. The moment was quickly covered though with an obedient expression. In a smooth motion, she rose to her feet, bowed and left without further complaint.

As soon as Luna had left, there was a quiet cough from the other side of Natsume. Mikan was a little surprised to see that the man calling himself Serio, his mate Nobara, and Narumi had yet to leave. "If it is alright, we would like to stay. We might be able to add a few details." Hime gave Mikan a look deferring the decision to her.

Mikan nodded thinking it might be better to have them around since Ji-chan had already drained two sake bottles. He certainly did not act like a god.

She was about to ask her first question when Natsume spoke first. "The first thing I would like to know is about this challenging Yuka's mate. My grandfather has always been a traditionalist. He would not have taken a sea dragon for a mate.

Hime gave him an irritated look, but it was Narumi who answered his question. "Perhaps I phrased it wrong. When I said that the king challenged Izumi to be Yuka's mate, it was more along the lines that the king did not recognize Izumi's claim as her mate because she already belonged to the king."

That one statement sent Mikan's head spinning. Her mother belonged to the king? Just what was she to him? Everything her mind could come up with sounded unpleasant.

"The story of Yuka, Izumi and Kuonji is a rather complicated one." Hime told them quietly. "Naru, if you would explain."

"Yuka's story starts about thirty years ago. She was still quite a young dragon then, only in her late teens. We were good friends at the time" He began, and Mikan's mind conjured an image of a young woman who looked just like her and about the same age.

"Back then creatures had already begun to flock to Inari and the sea dragons that lived in the lakes around here as protection from the king. We had Hime's barrier hiding us, but we knew he would eventually find us. At the time we did not want to wage any kind of war with him so we tried to negotiate some type of truce."

From beside her, she felt Natsume wince. He probably knew his grandfather better than anyone here but even Mikan knew his track record for rejecting truces.

"As expected, he rejected all of our envoys right up until Yuka." Mikan watched as a flicker of grief slid cross his features before disappearing. Given the look and the way Naru had held MIkan when they first met; she was willing to bet the incubus had strong unrequited feelings for her mother.

"I sh-shud nevrrr haf leeet herrr go." Ji-chan slurred next to her, and regret tinted his drunken tone.

"She was too young and too inexperienced to take such a duty, but she was convinced that she could get the king to listen to her."

_How in the world did she think she could do that?_ She wondered when Natsume asked virtually the exact same thing out loud. At this point Hime took up the explanation.

"Yuka had figured she could attract Kuonji's attention because she had a rather unusual gift that she hoped she could use as a bargaining tool."

_An unusual gift?_

Mikan felt a horrible sense of foreboding wash over her_. It can't be._ Her heart started pounding heavily in her chest and she was having trouble breathing. Inside, her mind was trying to reject its own thoughts but somehow she just knew what she was thinking was true.

Mikan already knew she had her nullification from her father, enough people had said they had seen him do something similar to explain where it came from. But there was that other _thing_ in her that she just could not explain. The _thing _whose existence she refused to even acknowledge. It was only in the very darkest corners of her mind she had wondered what it was and where it had come from.

The number of people who even knew about it could be counted on one hand and the number of times it had happened would probably be close to the same number. _At least until today that is._

Most times she deliberately forgot it was even there. After all, she was freaky enough without having something like _that_. But when she saw her mate (_lover_ her mind corrected) was about to kill the only lead to her mother she had kind of acted without thinking. She had never wanted to show that ability to Natsume, and she had tried to hide it, she could tell he was not fooled. Eventually she was sure she was going to have to tell him about it.

Next to her, Natsume was giving her an odd look like he could read her fears. _He knows alright. _When this was over she would have to try and explain to him just how much of a misfit she really was among dragon kind. And hope that he would not run screaming in the other direction.

He had been so sweet and wonderful about her nullification, but she wondered how far would that sweetness extend? _Gods, please let him understand. _The longer she was around him the harder it was not to call him her mate. He had never said anything, but she had felt it nonetheless. If he walked away from her now she was quite sure it would break her heart.

Her mouth and throat felt dry and constricted so it was almost impossible to speak. The sound that came out was only just audible. "What gift was that?" she whispered causing Naru and Hime to give her strange looks.

"Did no one tell you of this?" the woman asked, looking perplexed.

Mikan shook her head and cleared her throat a little. She reached out a shaky hand and quickly took a sip of the tepid tea in front of her to help wet her dry mouth. "She died within hours of my birth and if she had any family, I have never met them." She explained, and kept her eyes focused on the woman in front of her. Hime gave her a knowing look and nodded.

"Your mother had the ability to steal the magical ability from other creatures." She said quite simply and Mikan's whole world rocked on its foundation.

Beside her she felt Natsume's shock ripple through their bond. "She what?" He demanded with an odd pitch to his voice which shook her world even more.

"I'm not exactly sure how her ability worked, since I had only witnessed it a handful of times, but Yuka was able to extract the magical ability from others and transform it into a gemstone. She figured the king would be interested in her stealing ability and negotiated our safety in exchange for herself and her ability."

No, no, nononono this could not be happening. Oh gods how did this get so complicated? When she was young she had been so sure it had to be her that had uncovered the mystery of her parents' death. In her mind, it was a simple matter of a little investigating, but she had been so horribly naïve.

It had never once even occurred to her that the king might already know her or know about the stealing alice. It had never occurred to her that with her very presence she would put others that she barely knew in danger or that they would have to flee their homes. Gods of water and earth, where was her head? Just what made her think this would just be a simple mission?

"So she was the king's…" Mikan did not even know how to describe her mother's role.

"She was the like the king's secret treasure. She was correct that he was interested in an ability that made him stronger than his adversaries. So he accepted her offer and kept her at the estate with him. It was during that time when she had met Natsume's mother Karou and the two had became good friends." Mikan did not want to look at Natsume, for fear that she might lose her resolve and leave without hearing everything to the end. But even as she tried to fight it, she found her head turning to look anyway.

He kept a bland expression on his face, but she could feel his thoughts were churning almost as much as hers were. For just a second, their eyes met and he reached out to squeeze her hand. She let out a breath she did not know she was holding. She had not lost him yet. No matter what he had heard so far there was nothing but affection and support in those eyes. _He is really just too beautiful._

Darn it. What little resistance she had left regarding him was a token one at best because she was afraid and unsure of his feelings but even that resistance had dissolved. She could not lie and say she was falling for him, she had already fallen. He was her true mate and she had no idea how she was going to convince him she was the right woman for him, but she did not care. She would find a way.

Serio chose that moment to disrupt their moment to add his own thoughts "I remember when Yuka first came to the estate. She was so shy and quiet that she was an easy target for some of the older dragons. Being father's tool, offered her some protection, but there were a few who resented having a sea dragon in the clan. Thankfully Karou-nee took and instant liking to her had protected her." Serio gave Mikan a small smile. "She actually helped me with my alice. When others were afraid or disgusted by it, she was kind to me and removed enough for me to live unaffected by it." Now that surprised Mikan. It was the first good thing she had heard regarding the stealing alice.

"The Yuka and Karou would often sneak back here when the clan became too suffocating." Narumi added. "Yuka even supported Karou's courtship of Hyuuga and would often cover for her when the couple needed some private time. The pair of them were actually the ones who started hiding and smuggling supernatural creatures through this place and out of Japan."

Natsume shook his head in denial. "It is not like the old man not to interfere with such things." He said with a disbelieving tone. "He would not have allowed an asset like that so much freedom."

"Well for the most part he did not do much of anything. It would be my guess that it was because Yuka had continued to amass quite a collection of magic gemstones for Kuonji while she was trapped in his service." Hime speculated. "As long as she did her job he was willing to allow her that little bit of freedom."

Natsume looked unconvinced, but he stayed silent.

From here Naru had picked up the conversation. "That is, until Izumi arrived." He said somberly and they all nodded. "He never did tell anyone why he was in Japan, but when he and Yuka first met the effect was almost instantaneous. On the surface they fought like cats and dogs but they were almost always seen together. It became pretty apparent that there was something going on between them." Narumi's voice became an odd mixture of fondness and regret. Mikan could only guess how hard it was for the incubus to watch the person he cared about loving another.

"At the same time there had been an issue regarding Karou and a gold dragon" Hime explained causing Natsume to stiffen next to her. Mikan poured love and support back through their bond knowing that the 'issue' was his illicit conception. "We were able to use the event as a distraction to hide Yuka's escape from the clan. It worked for a short while and we were able to hide them inside my barrier, but eventually the king started looking for her and Karou who was pregnant at the time was unable to cover for her for long."

"They would have fled at that point, but by then Yuka had also become pregnant so they tried to wait him out." Narumi explained.

"Why did they not try a boat or a plane or some conventional means of travel?" Mikan asked. The question had been plaguing her for years now as to why they waited so long to leave.

"You need passports to travel internationally and the king held Yuka's. Izumi had a fake one made for her, but every time they had tried to leave with it, they found the king's people waiting for them. It turned out he had psychics watching the airports and harbors." Narumi explained "By then word had reached him that Yuka was pregnant which must of infuriated him because he started putting pressure on the remaining sea dragons in order to flush her out."

Sometime during the conversation, Ji-chan had stopped drinking and the human alcohol had burned too quickly through his system for him to maintain his drunken stupor for long. "Whole families just vanished in an instant." The old man whispered harshly, and Mikan was surprised to see a single tear slide down his wrinkled cheek.

Narumi gave the old man a fond look and cleared his throat. "No one really knows what had started the events that led to Izumi's death. We know news had reached them that the king was close to finding them so they tried to run in order to protect everyone else here. It was then that Kuonji caught up to them. Ji-chan was the only one with them when Izumi was killed."

The old man's paper thin voice broke into the conversation "I still say there was something wrong with that fight." He announced "That kid didn't look right when he was fighting I tell you! He could barely fly or even use fire during that fight! That sneaky snake did something to him I'm sure of it!" Although the rest of the room could hear him, Mikan got the impression Ji-chan was speaking more to himself than them. His aged eyes had a far off look like they were trapped in unpleasant memories. Finally, he seemed to shake himself free of the thoughts that held him and he gave Mikan a grave look.

"When the kid died, it was close to dusk and your mother was in a terrible state of shock. I tried to call the ocean to sweep the bastard out to the deepest depths, but somehow he managed to get free and survive. I thought he was dead, but the strapping kid's mother called us and told us he was back at the clan's estate. I still don't know how he did it." He muttered looking deeply troubled by that detail. "Anyway, your mother and I prayed together for your father's soul at dawn to cross over and I asked her what she wanted to do. She said she needed time to think and when I came to check on her an hour later she was already gone."

No one needed to hear the rest of the story. They all knew that Mikan's mother had fled to America. Mikan could not help but wonder if Yuka was even in her right mind when she had left. Did she expect or plan to die on that journey? Or was she so far gone in grief for the loss of her mate that she just mindlessly fled to the only safe place she could think of?

Mikan gave her own would-be mate a look and tried to picture herself in her mother's place but the picture would not come. She honestly could not imagine what she would do if she suddenly lost Natsume. She had become a part of her in such a short time. Losing him would be like losing half of herself.

Old man Inari gave a big gusting sigh that broke the negative tension in the room. "It is getting late. The sun is about to set and you young lady obviously need to swim and rest." He ordered Mikan and Natsume pulled her to him and put his arm around her protectively. The old man gave him a dismissive gesture. "No need to growl at me boy, I'm just stating the obvious."

Mikan could feel the weight of Natsume's glare towards Ji-chan for another few moments before he nodded to himself and let the old man's words slide.

With that they all got up and Naru offered to show them to her mother's place where they could rest.

Tbc

* * *

Blech, this chapter is loaded with information, but light on action. I'll have to see if I can liven up the next chapter.

Thank you always for reading and reviewing! I usually try to personally answer back to my reviews especially those that have comments or questions but I often forget to add a few words for those who review but don't sign in. So to cover a few comments and questions:

To **Zai-Zai**: You know, I've had a few reviews from you and it just occurred to me I have never responded. Eek I'm terrible. So is there enough clues to the past here for you?

To **not my name**: Interesting handle you chose there. I'm challenging myself to write a strictly 'original character free' story while at the same time challenging myself to add as many characters as I can. I won't lie to you. It has been harder than I thought. I have not found a spot for characters like Yuri, Shiki or Goshima yet and there are not many places I can put them. I think I may be at my limit.

To **no one important**: Boy and I thought the name before was odd. Have a little confidence in yourself will ya? Okay, Mikan first uses the name Sakura as an alias. Given that she comes from a family of thieves and smugglers, I don't think it would be that hard for her to use a fake name when she is in a strange situation. Wanna guess what Tsubasa's alias is? Right in one guess, it's Ando.

I also need to welcome a handful of you like **Curiosity Insists**, **ZaiLiaLis** and **Mystic Melody girl** who have only just started into this story and read it all in one go. The mind quails at the thought of trying to read all of this at once. Just remember, when the words start blurring or moving on the screen, it is time to step away and come back later. Don't worry, I won't change the story on you in the meantime.


	26. Chapter 26

Well hello all. I hope those of you who are having summer break are enjoying it. And for any of you who are working or live in countries who have school right now, I hope you are all doing well.

Thank you again to all of you wonderful wonderful people who sent in reviews. I love you to bits.

* * *

A Dragon's Heart – Chapter 26

"For the most part, Yuka's house should be in reasonable condition." Narumi said good-naturedly at Mikan. "We have had people staying there off and on over the past few years so we have kept it fairly clean. I'll have to try and see if we can get the water and electricity back on for you."

The three of them walked towards a compact house at the lake's edge, but Natsume hardly noticed it. He was also only marginally bothered by the way that Mikan and Narumi were happily chatting away. Normally it would have irritated the hell out of him and he should have already told the creep to piss off, but at the moment his brain was in overload.

Generally, he was a pretty smart guy and could mentally multitask fairly well but recent events were starting to bog down even his usually brilliant mind.

Seducing Mikan, Aoi missing, the evacuation, finding this little community, the strange creatures in the community, Mikan and his mother being friends, the King owning Mikan's mother, seducing Mikan. _Oh wait, I covered that already._ Making love to Mikan again, making sure she gets a swim and a rest while also making sure his people were alright and escaped with few problems.

Oh and he still has to cover that whole stealing alice thing with Mikan. By no means had he forgotten that little scene when she suddenly used Narumi's power. Nor did he miss how it sounded surprisingly close to what happens with the stealing alice.

_Nullification and stealing alices together. Yea gods what a mix._ Neither alice was something he would have imagined was possible a week ago. Then again, ever since he had met Mikan, he had felt like his narrow view of the world had been blown wide open, only to find there was a whole world full of things he had never imagined possible. _You would think I would be immune by now._

His biggest problem though was not all the new things he was discovering; it was that they just did not fit together right. The more he learned, the more he had this nagging sensation that he was looking at a huge puzzle but he was missing the key piece that put it all together.

No matter how Natsume twisted the new information swirling in his mind around, it just did not feel right. He was definitely missing something and he knew it. Worse, he was sure that whatever it was he was missing was very important.

Right now he would love to be able to pull back and look at all of the things that had been happening lately and take the time to piece them together better, but he did not have that luxury for that.

Then again, he would also love to spend the rest of the night keeping this little community awake with Mikan's pleasure filled screams. But sadly he did not have the luxury of time for that either.

First and foremost was the evacuation that should be starting in minutes and he needed to get a hold of Luka soon. Second of course was to get Mikan as far away from his grandfather as possible. Third, he needed to find his grandfather's stash of magical gemstones and either steal it or destroy it.

Just the thought of the old man having control over such a treasure sent chills down his spine. He was tempted to ask Mikan to speak to her family and try to recruit the help of the infamous Yukihara thieves to steal his little horde of gemstones, but he killed that idea before it even got started. Knowing Mikan, she would want to help, and as per priority number two, she needed to be as far away from the old man as globally possible. The planet Mars would be better.

The stealing alice was something he never expected. Just imagine having Narumi's seduction, Koko's mind reading, or even that Tsubasa guy's shadow ability at your fingertips? A person like that would be unstoppable. No wonder the old man was able to maintain his stranglehold on Japan for so long. Gods only know what kinds of abilities he had at his command.

Although that did not explain why he had never seen the old man use them. _He is obviously trying to keep them a secret so he probably only uses them in extreme circumstances._ He reasoned.

No wonder the bastard was so interested in Mikan.

Natsume's hands balled into fists and his teeth started grinding at just the thought of his mate being anywhere near that creep. From the first instant that he had seen the two of them together in the clinic he had felt there was something horribly wrong with letting the king anywhere near her. More than just jealousy could account for anyway.

As the trio walked they approached the small house, Natsume started to take in some of his surroundings. The place clearly showed signs of being empty for several months with just a few indications that someone had tried to hastily clean it up for their arrival. A small path had been recently swept clean, but the rest of the area was littered with dust, dirt and dead leaves.

Narumi took the lead and the door hinges protested with an almighty squeak at being forced to work after so long in neglect. Unfazed by the sound, the incubus reached his arm blindly in for something unseen. The mystery was quickly solved when the lights went on and he gave a rather pleased sound.

"Oh good, the lights work. There probably is not much in the way of food in the kitchen so I'll see if I can get some for you." He continued talking while he gave a quick inspection of the place.

Inside was the same as outside although it was clear whoever had come ahead of them to open up the place had paid more attention to cleaning the inside, than the out.

The place was quite small but functional. It was definitely nothing near what he was used to on the clan estate, but he knew that it was larger than some people's apartments.

Immediately through the door, they found themselves in the kitchen with a small table and chairs. Past the table and chairs there was a small living area which led to a sliding glass door that overlooked the lake. Along the side wall, the sliding door to the bedroom was open so really the only part of the tiny house that he could not see from the entrance was the bathroom.

Narumi walked over to the kitchen sink and tried the faucet. It made a protest almost as noisy as the front door, but began flowing after a few moments. "Ah, good, they even got the water going." He said while shutting off the tap and moving off towards the bedroom. Whoever had cleaned the place had been kind enough to already lay out a futon for them. Narumi walked around the bedding to slide open a panel that revealed a storage closet stacked with several boxes.

"We kept most of Yuka and Izumi's things, so you can look through them if you like. It is mostly clothes, but there might be some mementos you might want to keep." Narumi said brusquely obviously trying not to linger too long on the knowledge that the original owners would never be returning for their belongings.

The incubus clapped his hands in a show of false cheer and gave them a feeble smile. "Well! That is about it, if you need anything, just let me know. I'll let you get to your swim now." He said, while moving past them and out the door. He might have said more, but Natsume had decided he had enough of the man's company and rudely closed the door in his face. Mikan gave him a sour look.

"Natsume, you did not have to do that." She scolded, but he ignored her words and dragged her in for an intense kiss.

The kiss was not merely a meeting of mouths. He was holding her in an almost crushing embrace and his energy was swirling in and through hers like a maelstrom. He was kissing her like he was trying to somehow suck out a piece of her soul and replace it with some of his own.

He needed this right now. It was more than just his current physical need. He needed to ground himself to her. Natsume was not accustomed to feeling so out of control with so many unknown variables flying around. He definitely did not like feeling so lost and adrift so he clung on to the few solid things he had left in his life. His feelings for Mikan, Aoi, Luka and his quasi friendship with the others was all he had.

The young red dragon let Mikan go as quickly as he had grabbed her. It was rather pleasing to see the dazed, glassy look in her eyes and the pink tinting her cheeks from his sudden kiss. Unable to resist he gave her another quick one on her forehead. "Go swim. I need to call Luka." He ordered. Mikan blinked at him and slowly processed what he had said.

In a daze, she shuffled towards the sliding door, slipping off her shorts. She was about to remove her shirt, but Natsume stopped her. "Oi, leave your shirt on."

She turned to him. "Natsume, I'm running out of dry clothes. It is getting dark and I doubt someone will see me in the five steps to the water. If you like, I can still wear my underwear."

Natsume gave her an uncompromising look. "Keep your underwear _and_ your shirt on." He did not care how unlikely it was that someone would see her body. It was not going to be exposed to anyone or anything, but him.

She gave him another one of her looks and rolled her eyes at him, but he caught the pleased and somewhat smug vibes from her. And she did keep her clothes on.

Once he saw that she was safely in the water and felt her energy surge for her transformation, he went over to the bedroom and plunked down on the futon. He sat in a lotus and closed his eyes. The distance between himself and his brother was not that much, but Luka was not as strong as him so he would have to use his energy to cover most of the distance between them. He did not dare use a phone where someone might be able to listen in.

_Luka._

'_Natsume? I thought you would have called sooner than this!'_

_I had some unusual delays. How are things there?_

'_Better than you would expect. Mikan's uncle Tsubasa sure knows his stuff. We have managed to collect everyone at the beach by calling it a party and we can all leave once we take care of the people the king sent out to spy on us.'_

_Good. No Major problems then?_

'_Not really, unless you count that psychotic bear of Mikan's attacking and knocking a kid out cold.'_

_He attacked the children?_ Was that bear going to be a problem? Maybe he should talk to Mikan about it.

'_No, just the one kid. Tsubasa tried to talk to him and according to him, the bear said he did not like the kid. He said he smelled bad or something.'_

_Which kid?_

'_One of the older ones, Goshima.'_ For some reason that he could not explain, hearing that did not sit well with Natsume. Maybe it was because the kid always acted perpetually happy, maybe it was because of the odd way the kid was always ignoring the children in favor of the adults, or maybe it was because of all he had learned today had taught him a valuable lesson about the dangers of assumptions. Either way the fact that an ifrit who was sworn to protect Mikan for the full extent of her life disliked Goshima enough to knock him out cold sent warning bells off in his head.

_Luka, can I get you to keep him out until I can meet up with you?_

"_What? Why?'_

_I think he might be a spy._ He answered honestly.

'_WHAT? He's just a kid.' _Luka's tone was horrified.

_True, and if I am wrong, it will not hurt him to be asleep during the evacuation. But ifrits are not from our dimension, so the bear may be able to sense something we can't. Just keep an eye on him. Have you said anything about where you are going?_ He asked, and his brother briefly explained the plan of not discussing their destination until after midnight.

Natsume hated to admit it, but Luka was right. That Tsubasa guy really did know his stuff. It sounded like he had everything under control in his absence. Still, there was one very important thing he should mention.

_Luka, I want you to be extra careful._

"_Don't worry, we will be.'_ The draman assured.

_No. I don't mean like that. We may have just learned one of the secrets to the king's success. _To speed things up he sent the whole clump of memories from the first moment he saw Narumi and up to leaving Inari and Hime. It took a few moments for his brother to sift through it all but he could feel his brother's sense of growing unease.

To be honest, he did not want to tell anyone about the stealing alice or about the community hiding here. And he really did not want to mention Narumi's little seduction trick on him, but if the king pulled any of the extra powers he had at his disposal out, they would not stand a chance. At least this way they were forewarned.

'_That is one complicated mate you have little brother. Do you think her uncle and cousin know?'_

_Probably. She seems pretty close to them. You should try to find a private way of warning them. They should at least know what they are up against. But try to limit the number of people who know._

'_I understand. The sun is setting now. We should start getting ready to go. Good luck.'_

_To you as well._ He said and withdrew from the connection. With the exception of that Goshima kid, everything seemed to be going fine.

He let out a pent up breath, and opened his eyes. Now what was he supposed to do? He was sorely tempted to join Mikan. He really loved the sight of her swimming about in her dragon form. It was so sleek and sexy. S_he did bring up a good point earlier._

She wasn't the only one who had a limited amount of clothes. His own backpack was packed yesterday with the intention of spending a day at the beach. He was either going to have to wash what he was wearing, or find new clothes. The thought was rolling over in his head when his eyes happened to land on the storage closet that Narumi had left open.

As he eyed the boxes he wondered on the probability that there might be some clothes that would fit them in there and whether or not he wanted to wear a dead man's clothes. Or even if Mikan would be okay with them wearing her deceased parents clothes.

Cautiously, he moved over and plucked out one of the boxes from the top and opened it. It was full of a bunch of miscellaneous junk. A phone, an address book with worn pages, an old answering machine, pens, pencils, and a couple of picture frames filled with pictures of people he did not know.

Pulling out the frames he took his first look at people that were Yuka and Izumi Yukihara.

Holy crap. Naru was not wrong when he mistook Mikan for Yuka. He knew her by sight instantly. Mikan had her mother's features and coloring with the exception of her smile. Her smile was all Izumi. Her father was a handsome man that kind of reminded Natsume of Ruka with different coloring. In one picture, the couple was surrounded by other people and Natsume could only guess by their features that these were the grandparents that raised Mikan.

Next he pulled out the answering machine. It was one of those old models that used a tape and he could see the tape was still in the machine. Out of curiosity he plugged it in and rewound the tape wondering if there was still anything on it. Once the tape was done rewinding, he pressed play. What sort of morbid fascination made him feel like listening to what could be the sounds of people long dead? A shrill beep sounded and the first message was rather surprisingly in English.

"_**Izumi it's Kazu. I got your message. If you need help, call me. I might know a way to get you out of Japan now rather than after Yuka has the baby. Call me."**_

The next two were also from Izumi's family asking how the couple was and how the then pregnant Yuka was fairing. One message sounded like Narumi talking about meeting with someone who never showed up but the last message nearly gave Natsume a heart attack.

"_Yuka it's Karou! You have to get out and leave now! Father has somehow found out where you are! He's been furious ever since he found out about you and about Izumi! I just don't know what he might do if he saw you." _his mother rapidly whispered intothe phone. Her voice was shaking and she was almost hyperventilating. Never in his life had Natsume ever heard her sound so frightened.

"_Oh gods… I've never seen him like this. Just run Yuka, don't even bother packing, just take Izumi and run."_ His mother panted into the phone, sounding like she was having a panic attack. In the background he heard a tiny baby begin wailing and he realized with a creeping shiver down his spine that it was probably himself as a newborn infant picking up on his mother's distress.

Not being able to stand anymore, Natsume's hand snapped out and stopped the tape and yanked out the electrical cord. It took several moments for his own breathing to steady out and his heart to stop racing. That was not what he was expecting when he plugged in the machine.

Once his reactions were back under his control, he carefully put the machine back into the box and closed it again. He looked at the other boxes with a more dubious eye and tried to decide if he was desperate enough for clothes to brave opening another box. He mulled the problem over for a minute and was just at the point where he had convinced himself that he was being foolish since it was unlikely all of the boxes could contain surprises like the first one when he heard Mikan open the sliding door.

"Natsume?" she called to him while standing at the doorway dripping wet. "Are you alright?" She had that moonlight glow about her that he loved and she was radiating power. Apparently, a swim in her mother's home waters did wonders for her.

Giving in to the urge to hold his mate, he got up and moved towards her. After a few steps though, he altered his course to the bathroom where he was relieved to find towels had been set out for them. Grabbing one, he continued to his original objective. Not bothering to say anything, he wrapped the towel around her and held her close.

"Are you alright?" she asked again. "I thought I felt… well you felt… it felt like you were upset at something." She finished hesitantly.

Instead of answering, he cradled her head in the crook of his neck and he enjoyed her much cooler body temperature against his. Her sweet but tangy scent that made him think of cherry blossoms and citrus took over his senses, and made him temporarily forget everything about answering machines and the voices of those who had passed on.

He started trailing light kisses down her hairline towards her neck when she pulled away to look into his eyes.

"Natsume? Are you okay?" she asked him. Her eyes were filled with concern and she looked determined to get an answer from him, so he gave her a sinister grin.

"It is nothing that having your ankles on my shoulders can't cure." He told her with a heated look. For several moments she just looked at him with a blank expression, and then her nose crinkled with distaste.

"Urgh, that sounds awful. Is that some kind of punishment or something?" She asked, and he chuckled darkly at her.

"You will just have to trust me."

"Alright, but I still say it sounds awful." She announced while he picked her up and carried her over to the futon.

* * *

Natsume's breathing and heart rate were starting to return to normal and his grayed vision was starting to regain focus. Turning his head ever so slightly, he landed a kiss on Mikan's smooth calf that was attached to the promised ankle sitting on his shoulder.

He was feeling rather smug about his most recent lesson in his mate's sexual education. She had been totally convinced that the whole experience was not going to be enjoyable but soon discovered that she… well… let us just say she was more than pleasantly surprised. He waited patiently for her to come back down to earth and look at him. Once she did, he could not stop the cheeky grin he gave her.

"I told you it would not hurt." He said without a shred of humility. She in turn, blushed and tried to look away knowing how well she had responded to his lovemaking. Enable to take his intense gaze, she slid her legs down his arms, starting to squirm and try and get away from him.

"Stop that. Why do you keep doing that?" he ordered, her constant attempts to leave him were really starting to upset him.

Mikan stopped squirming and looked at him baffled "Keep doing what?"

"You keep trying to get away from me whenever I have you in my arms. It is starting to really piss me off." He told her.

Her eyes went impossibly wide and he could see nothing but incomprehension in them. Clearly she was not doing it on purpose, but that did not stop it from hurting him. "I'm not always trying to run away." She denied.

"Oh really? Let's count shall we? There was when you first woke up in the clinic you tried to run away from me." Having lost the sensuality of the moment, he pulled himself off of her.

"I needed to get into the water." She retorted, but he ignored her.

"The first time we kissed."

"You stole that kiss, and you were acting like a jerk at the time." Okay maybe she had a point there. In a swift, frustrated, move he stood up and begin pacing in the nude.

"Later that night and the next morning in my bed."

"You can't be serious."

"Last night after we made love and this morning." He said rather pointedly, and she gave him an uncomfortable look, then looked away.

"It's not like that." She mumbled. From their bond he could feel that his words were stinging her, but she was not the only one who kept getting hurt.

He had kept quiet up until now, but as his feelings grew, her ability to hurt him grew also. He needed to tell her what she meant to him, but if he was going to bring up words like 'future' and 'mate' –which he fully intended to do- they needed to come to some sort of understanding. He was not much of a talker but even he with his limited social skills knew that because they were tapped into each other's emotions, they could do some serious damage to one another. He needed some reassurance that she was not going to keep dropping his heart on the ground and leaving wherever she pleased.

"Then explain it to me. Just what is it like?"

"I'm just not… comfortable. I'm not used to this." She said with a gesture that he figured was supposed to include both of them. "I was never any good around boys or men. I always felt weird and out of place… and… " she faltered awkwardly.

"And?" He prompted.

"Maybe I just felt… "

He resisted the urge to yell at her, but if she kept stalling he was going to do something violent. "You felt what?" he asked impatiently.

Her eyes narrowed and she hissed at him "Gods, you just don't get it do you?"

No he did not. Did she think this was any easier for him?

When she saw he was not going to answer, she made a bitter sound. "Fine, perhaps you can get this." She stood up swiftly and marched over to him. For a moment, he thought she was going to slap him, but instead she grabbed his right hand with her right hand. She took a deep breath and he felt her call the magic within and around her.

"By the first drop of water that brought forth life and by the ancient earth that cradles it, I Mikan Yukihara, do love you Natsume Hyuuga. With the moon as my witness, so I do say. Don't you get it Natsume? It does not matter how many times I, as you said, try to get away from you. All roads and paths I take will always quickly lead back to you. Just because I am feeling a little awkward and uncomfortable with intimacy does not mean I don't care." She explained quietly.

Natsume felt the magic crawl across his skin and bind to him. He also felt the air in his chest seize and he had to consciously remember to breathe.

Her oath.

She had, in a backward sort of way given him her oath. It was not a conventional oath. She had modified it to suit the situation, but the magic still held. Inside, he could feel her dragon calling out to his and he felt his own return the call.

Mikan gave him and embarrassed look after her confession and oath, so she tried let his hand go and shyly flee to the safety of the bathroom.

_Oh no you don't you are not getting away this time. _With and excited leap, he chased after her and stopped her from locking herself away from him. He would have to work on her awkwardness, but he had plenty of time for that. For now, he spun her about and kissed her passionately. Gods, with all that was happening around them, he was still thrilled beyond words that Mikan was his. Well, almost. She still had yet to use the word 'mate' and he still had to answer her for his end of the spell.

He was having a little trouble on his part to answer her. Every time he pulled away from their kiss he felt this uncontrollable need to kiss her again and he would dive back in. He really wished he could talk and kiss at the same time. Why oh why was there not a way to fast track their bond to the point of telepathy?

"I – mmmm… wait - ohhmm… should – mmmm… stop – ammm…" At this rate he wasn't making any progress. If he was going to do this, he needed to do this now. The sun had already mostly sunk past the horizon with only the last traces of it tinting the sky hues of orange and purple.

With great reluctance, he pulled away from his mate's rather irresistible mouth and laced the fingers of his right hand with hers.

"By the first spark of fire and by the everlasting air that breathed life into it, I Natsume Hyuuga, love only you Mikan Yukihara, and recognize you as my one and only mate. With the sun as my witness so do I say. Even if you try to run, I'm not letting you go."

Mikan's mouth hung open and her eyes showed nothing but shock. He wanted very much to kiss her senseless and drag her back to the futon, but he needed her to finish the seal first.

"You – you did not have to do that. I didn't say that for force you-" she stuttered nervously.

"Shh, I know." And he did know too. The magic was reinforcing their bond and making it stronger. He could feel just how embarrassed and self-conscious she felt. For some silly reason she did not feel worthy of what they had together. He would have to work on her self confidence as well. He gave her a sweet kiss on her forehead. "Please finish it Mikan." He begged. He needed her to complete the spell. The magic was flowing freely between them. Their respective energies were intermingling and he could feel the strength of the elements pulsing around them. He also felt the strength of the moon's glow through her, but the sun was fading fast and he wanted her to finish the spell while it still had most of its strength.

The woman he loved gave him a trembling smile and her eyes were threatening to tear up. "I Mikan Yukihara recognize you Natsume Hyuuga as my one and only mate." She said quietly and the magic locked around them, settling against them like a glowing second skin. After a few heartbeats, the energy broke and dissipated. All that was left was a euphoric feeling and a very solid bond to his mate.

Curious, he kind of poked his mind at the connection and felt Mikan do the same. She was there now, like she was a part of him. Kind of like his dragon side, but very muted. It was funny that they included her running away from him in their oaths, because he was certain now that he would be able to pinpoint her exact location no matter where she was in the world. If she was at the North Pole and he the South, he would know it. There was nowhere she could run or be taken where he would not know.

Unable to contain himself, he scooped her up, spun her in a circle and headed back towards the futon causing Mikan to let out a silvery laugh that made his stomach do flips.

"Natsume put me down!" she ordered while still laughing. Natsume gave her another evil grin like he did earlier.

"Oh I intend to Mrs. Yukihara-Hyuuga." Jeeze what a mouthful that was, but he did not let it bother him. He would not let anything, even his own fears ruin this moment for them and he could tell she felt the same. They both knew the next few days were going to be dangerous for them. It was more than possible that something bad would happen to either one or both of them and by silent accord they agreed to make this night out to be one bright memory to shine in the darkness that would come soon enough.

Tbc

* * *

Eesh, sappy.

Between this and the oneshot I did last week, people are going to think I've gone soft. It will ruin my diabolical evil image. Hmmm, I must write about someone being tormented next chapter to save my reputation.

Anyway, thank you all for reading and feel free to review.


	27. Chapter 27

This chapter like the others is un-betaed. Feel free to point out any typos

* * *

A Dragon's Heart – Chapter 27

There was nothing the newly mated pair would have liked better than to spend the next month or two cut off from the outside world, but they both were painfully aware of how short their time was. They both knew they would have to return to the real world pretty soon and it had added a slightly frantic edge to their coupling. Their bodies would just be starting to cool when one of them would work to coax the other one back into another round. It was like they were trying to compress several days' worth of passion into a few hours.

Currently, Mikan was curled against Natsume with her head pillowed on his chest. If Natsume could have his way, they would stay like this forever. But fate was a horrible bitch that only allowed him limited time with his mate because he had absolutely no intention of letting her follow him back to the clan estate.

No, she was going to head straight back to the protection of her family while he went back to get Aoi. Mikan would be going even if he had to tie her up in a sack and have her family smuggle her back.

"Tell me about the stealing alice." He asked quietly.

Through their bond he felt Mikan's discomfort when she heard him mention the stealing alice. "I don't really have much to tell. I've only used it a handful of times and most of those were by accident. I wasn't even sure what kind of ability it was until they talked about it today. I had half convinced myself that it might have been an advanced type of nullification."

"How does it work?"

"I'm not really sure. I don't really know that much about it. Yesterday with Narumi was the first time I have ever tried to use it consciously and I'm not sure if I even did it right. Mostly it looks just like they make it sound. I just tried concentrating real hard and then all of a sudden I had this purple stone in my hand that let me use Narumi's seduction. Although I didn't know it was seduction at the time." She added quietly, still feeling embarrassed about trying to seduce her own mate.

Natsume planted a kiss on the top of her head. Her shyness was just so cute compared to most dragon born women who were usually quite bold. Actually that reminded him of another question he had been longing to ask.

"Tell me, how is it that you never had a lover before me? I'm not complaining, but dragons are not actually known for their self-control over their appetites."

He felt more than saw Mikan grimace into his chest. "Mostly it was my family protecting me, but for myself, I just never wanted to be the topic over the breakfast table."

"Topic over the breakfast table?" he mimicked not really sure he understood what she was saying.

Mikan lifted her head and propped herself up on her elbow to look at him. "Thanks to our family business, we shuffle around a lot. One day I could be living under the same roof as Tsubasa and the next week it could be Permy or Tono or even Uncle Kazu. The one sort of unofficial rule we have is whatever home we are at and whoever is currently living there, we all share breakfast together."

Natsume gave her a strange look. It sounded like an odd family tradition to him. Mikan saw his look and chose to explain a little further. "A lot of our work happens later in the day or at night, so having everyone meet at breakfast is a way of keeping tabs on everyone and knowing that they are all okay."

Ah, that made sense. "So when you were talking about being a topic over the breakfast table…"

She rolled her eyes. "Like you said, we are dragons and we are not known for our restraint. Many times I would have uncles, aunts and even cousins just returning home from whatever wild fling they had the night before. So there I would be sitting, trying to choke down my bacon and eggs while they all discussed their various exploits in embarrassing detail. It was creepy. The funny thing is we would always know when a family member had finally found someone special because they would suddenly be quiet and unwilling to share details during breakfast."

Natsume digested that information then moved on to another one. "What made you decide to be a nurse?" He asked, causing a crease to form between her brows.

"What is with all of the questions?"

Tucking one hand behind his head, he gave her what he hoped was a harmless look. "I'm just trying to find out as much as I can about you. We're mated and yet I feel like I hardly know anything about you."

Mikan gave him a suspicious look and he could feel her probing the bond between them. "Uh huh." She drawled and gave him a suspicious look. "What's the hurry? What are up to?"

Shit he was hoping she would not notice. This bond of theirs could become a little inconvenient. He did not want to talk about her leaving yet. Hell, he did not even want to think about it yet because he did not want to taint these few hours they had together. By morning she would be gone and he would be headed back towards the clan estate.

Because he was taking too long to answer, she knew something was wrong. "Natsume, what are you planning?"

"I'm planning on getting Aoi back." He stated simply.

Those beautiful expressive eyes of her narrowed at him "You're going to try to go without me." She accused.

The bond could be extremely inconvenient. "Mikan, you can't go." She looked ready to protest but he stopped her "You cannot go anywhere near him."

"Natsume, I-" she began, but he cut her off with a finger over her lips.

"I don't want to fight with you about this right now. Even if you did want to fight about it, you still can't come because if you came, I would spend my whole time worrying about you when I need to focus on Aoi. Now it is possible we might not see each other for a while, and the last thing I want to do is spend this time fighting with my new and very beautiful mate." He said, punctuating the last words with light kisses.

The diversion managed to distract her, but he meant what he said. His mate was not going anywhere near the old man.

* * *

Kokoro Yome pushed his wings to their limits. When he saw the island that Mikan's uncle had stopped to take a break at, he nearly cried in relief. It was not much to look at. It was little better than a sand bar with some stray plant life growing on it. An adult person could probably walk from tip to tip in ten minutes. Right now though, it looked like heaven to him.

His flying group had mostly been keeping within sight of Sumire and the boat she was pulling. For the first part of their journey he had been as well, but he could not take watching that long sinuous body of hers gliding through the water for much longer. It was distracting as hell and a few times he was tempted to dive down and jump her.

_Not cool Koko._

He felt like he had a better understanding of Natsume's obsession with Mikan now. Sure, he had teased their fearless leader about how sexy sea dragons were, but dae~amnn did they make the tail quiver and twitch.

He had to laugh at himself. All the danger they were in and he was thinking about getting his rocks off. _Way not cool Koko._ When this was all over though, she had better watch out.

Rather than do something that would probably be highly inappropriate, he took to flying in larger circles around the group higher up to make sure they were not being followed.

Aiming himself like an arrow, he dove towards the island where a dozen dragons had already gathered for a break. The mind reader aimed himself towards a clear patch, transformed a few feet above the ground, landing smartly in the soft cool sand.

The others looked at him expectantly, but he held up his hand to stall them while he gasped in some much needed air. Once he had almost got his breath back, he snagged one of Nonoko's special energy drinks stored on Imai's portable island and guzzled down half of it.

By then he was no longer gasping for dear life and was going to make his greetings, but Sumire and the others pulled into shore. Instantly he plopped down into the sand and arranged himself in a lazy position like he had been there for hours. When Sumire trudged out of the water, he gave her a bored look.

"Yo Perms, what took you so long? I was thinking you had gotten lost." He called out with a disinterested tone.

Sumire shot him a murderous look before stomping past him to grab a drink and snacks for herself and her passengers. Just past her, Sakurano and Imai gave him disapproving looks so he quirked an eyebrow at the pair.

Rather unexpectedly, her uncle Tsubasa materialized out of the night shadows and dropped down beside him. The guy was looking out at the group of arriving dragons, but Koko could tell there was a reason he chose to sit next to him.

"Did you spot anyone following us?"

"No. If the kid is a spy, he obviously needs to be awake to do whatever it is that he does." Imai had already confirmed that there were no electronic or listening tracking devices on him. Magical ones were a little harder to detect, but so far there was no indication he had one of those either.

"I don't like this." Tsubasa said bluntly.

"Why? Shouldn't we be glad things are working out in our favor?" Koko asked.

"This goes against everything I have ever heard about the Japanese dragon king. It does not seem like him to just let a group of his subordinates just walk away. At the very least he could use you as leverage against that Natsume kid."

Koko frowned. As much as he did not want to think about it, Tsubasa was right. It was not like the king at all. He has killed people for lesser insults.

"There is another thing." Tsubasa began, and Koko picked the rest of the thought out of his head before he said it.

"You picked up on that did you?" he asked causing Tsubasa to give him an irritated look.

"Will you stop doing that? You are almost as bad as talking to a psychic. Let people finish their sentences will ya?" Tsubasa told him testily. Koko gave him an unrepentant grin. Although he usually tried to respect people's privacy, there were times where his mind reading ability seemed to have a mind of its own. Tsubasa gave him a disgusted look and continued on. "Anyway, yes, I did figure out that Luka is probably going to ditch us soon so he can return to his mate."

Koko did not bother correcting Tsubasa's wording since it was pretty obvious to everyone that the pair were mated in all but name. Their oath would be little more than a formality really.

"So you need my help to stop him?" he asked, unsure that would be a good idea. The sea dragon shook his head.

"No, I just need you to tell me when he tries to lose us. Misaki has an ability that might allow us to keep an eye on him for a while."

Without meaning to, Koko picked the thought out of the other man's head and was surprised by what he found. Apparently the sea dragon's mate could duplicate herself and she would send her copy to follow Luka and make sure he stays out of trouble. Nice plan.

"Speaking of things I've picked up, I can't help but notice how close you have been sticking to Sumire." Tsubasa said calmly causing Koko to make a face. "Not that I don't like you, or want to discourage you, but I feel like I should warn you that sea dragon women are not the easiest to get along with. You might be better off if you just forgot the whole thing right now."

Koko paused to give the other man's words serious consideration. It was not like he was not aware of how difficult she would be already. Was it worth the hassle?

"Tsubasa."

"Yeah?"

"Consider yourself formally notified that I am going to court your niece."

Tsubasa let out a long sigh. "Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you." He said resignedly, and got up to move over to where Misaki was sitting.

* * *

Their idyll was interrupted soon enough by a phone call from Mikan's uncle Akira who for some reason he had yet to understand, called Tono. While she talked to him briefly, Natsume called his own brother to confirm things were fine on their end. Luka had mentioned that everything had gone through without any problems and that Mikan's uncle felt uneasy about the lack of pursuit. Unfortunately, Natsume had to agree with the sea dragon. It sounded like they had gotten away too easy so he left Luka with another warning to be careful.

They were just going to catch a little sleep before they had to leave, when they were both surprised by a light knocking at the door. Natsume looked at his phone and wondered who the hell would be visiting at one thirty in the morning and why it could not wait until morning.

Not feeling good about their late night visitor, Natsume quickly and silently slipped on his shorts and walked over to the door. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Mikan pull on his shirt and motioned for her to stay out of sight. Carefully, he cracked open the door and was almost disappointed to find Hime's little pet looking at him anxiously. What was her name again? Lupa? Lisa? L-something.

Natsume could tell that his visitor was disappointed that he was the one who opened the door rather than Mikan, but she quickly hid it. "Is Mikan-sama here?" she asked. Her posture, tone of voice and expression all appeared to be meek and a little afraid, but there was still something about this woman that set his teeth on edge. For starters, she smelled weird and she appeared far too interested in Mikan for his liking. Then there was that one point where he was sure he felt her using magic but could not discern why.

"Yes." He said bluntly, but stayed right where he was, refusing to allow her in. The strange woman in front of him warily looked around her into the night as if she was expecting something to jump out at her.

"I am sorry Hyuuga-sama, but it is important that I speak to her. The others would not want me to talk to her, and this is the quickest I could come." She whispered urgently.

That caught him a little off guard. What could this woman possibly know that would be important to Mikan? Against his wishes, his mate chose to appear right behind him rather than staying hidden like he wanted.

"What is it Luna?" Mikan asked, looking concerned. When Luna spotted her she looked immensely relieved.

"Mikan-sama, I knew your mother and there were a few things I thought you ought to know."

Natsume was tempted to slam the door in the woman's face, but he had already felt his mate's curiosity and resolve to listen to whatever it was this woman had to say. He reluctantly allowed the strange woman in and scrubbed a hand across his face. For a trouble magnet, Mikan had absolutely no concept of self-preservation.

Luna paused when she walked in and saw that Mikan was wearing next to nothing. Again Natsume felt an unreasonable dislike towards her and nothing about the way the woman looked at his half dressed mate made him feel good.

"So, you said you have something to tell me about my mother?" Mikan started off moving towards one of the kitchen chairs.

Luna nodded "Yes, is there anywhere we can talk alone?" she asked, subtly hinting that Natsume should leave. For his own part, Natsume just folded his arms over his chest and shot her an obstinate look. He wasn't leaving his mate alone with this woman and the creepy way she looked at his mate for anything.

When Luna saw that Natsume had no intentions of moving, she gave the pair of them an awkward look and decided to continue. She turned and gave Mikan a shining smile.

"My, you do look like your mother don't you? Your mother and I were such close friends, I feel like we are almost related!" she said excitedly, and what happened next almost happened too fast for Natsume for fully register anything until it was all done.

The look in Luna's eyes changed to something rather manic and she moved forward like she intended to hug Mikan. Without consciously thinking about it he moved to grab her wrist and yank her away from his mate. Robbed of her prey, Luna spun around and snarled at Natsume before launching herself at him. Thanks to his battle honed reflexes; he dodged her attack but kept his hold on her wrist. Letting her momentum carry her past him, he mercilessly wrenched her arm hard behind her back and slammed her into the door.

"Natsume! Luna! What is going on?" Mikan screamed and Natsume could hear the water from the lake sloshing around angrily.

Pinned against the door, Luna changed tactics. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I just got a little over excited!" she started simpering.

Natsume leaned in close to her ear and her scent filled his nostrils. It was still a strange smell. Like she was more than just one creature, one scent layered over another, which was imbedded into another. But now that he was close, there was one scent, deeply buried, that he was able to pick out clearly.

She smelled like his grandfather.

As soon as he identified the scent, he pulled harder on her arm and growled at her. "You dare to touch my mate?"

"Natsume stop! You don't need to hurt her!" Mikan pleaded.

_The hell I don't_. He thought to himself.

Mikan, who was still unaware that Luna was quite possibly a spy for his grandfather, moved around to try and reason with him face to face. She gently rested her hand on the one that viciously held Luna's wrist in a painful lock. Her intent was most likely to get him to let go, but in the process her fingers brushed against Luna's skin and the next strange and unexpected thing of the night occurred.

Luna's skin looked like it had insects crawling under the surface and it made her appearance warp and ripple. The effect only lasted a second because Mikan let out a shocked gasp and pulled her hand away instantly.

_What the hell was that?_

"Mikan, go call that Incubus or the guy who says he is my uncle." Natsume said urgently, causing Mikan to nod and bolt out the sliding door and into the lake.

Now that they were alone, Luna laughed darkly. "You should not have interfered Natsume. Mikan will fulfill her mother's obligation to the king."

Natsume became momentarily blinded by rage. "Listen bitch, I don't know who or what you are, but my mate is going nowhere near that bastard!" He snarled.

She laughed darkly again and for some reason her laugh made him think of Persona. "Your mate? You have no right to claim her as your mate" She taunted, "but perhaps having her already recognizing you as her mate might be advantageous."

The statement stunned him. "What?" Luna took advantage of his surprise and stomped on his foot which gave her enough room and leverage to drive the elbow of her other hand into his solar plexus and swing her fist into his groin. The sudden shock of pain had him loosening his grip and doubling over.

Once she was loose, she did not stay to fight him. Instead she ran outside and Natsume who was still in blinding pain, feared that the psycho woman would try to steal Mikan away from him. He staggered outside after her holding his family jewels and managed to hobble about a dozen steps when Luna did something else he did not expect.

She turned into a dragon.

And a red one at that.

Doing his best to shake of the residual shock of pain, he transformed himself and took off after her. Luna saw him pursuing and tried to get as much altitude as she could to escape. Unfortunately for her, Natsume, unlike other air dragons, was able to use his fire at night so he was able to block her escape path with a ball of fire. Luna let out a squawk and tried to change directions, but Natsume was already on top of her and blocked her path again.

Cornered, Luna spun on her tail and attacked him head on. He was about to burn her wings right off of her, but a piece of the night sky broke away and dove at her. When it touched her, she screamed and patches of black appeared on her wings and torso. Unable to fly any longer, she crash landed in the lake.

Natsume wasted no time landing at the edge of the lake and was not surprised when the moving piece of night sky turned out to be the black dragon that was his uncle.

By now others in the community were gathering around the shore to see what all of the noise was about. They all watched as choppy waves appeared all over the lake's surface and one particularly large wave coughed up his mate, old man Inari and Luna.

Luna was in pretty bad shape. There were black marks on her body and she clearly looked like she was in pain.

Narumi broke away from the group and walked up to them. "What is going on here? Mikan said there was trouble."

"You have a spy in your midst." Natsume told him and he heard gasps from more than a dozen onlookers.

Narumi gave him a strange look. "Luna? I find it hard to believe. She has been living here for years." The incubus said skeptically, but Natsume ignored him.

"Mikan, touch her again so they can see what we saw." He ordered and lit several small fireballs around the area so they could all see.

Nervous, Mikan walked up and looked reluctant to touch the other woman. If you went by the look on her face you would think she was about to touch something disgusting. Gingerly, she reached out and lightly touched Luna's shoulder and unlike before, she kept it there while they all watched Luna's skin crawl and writhe. Somewhere behind him, someone started gagging.

Eventually her skin stopped moving and what came out was not what anyone expected.

There, lying on the lakeshore was not Luna, but strange a man. A man who was obviously a red dragon. Natsume, Mikan and several others gaped at the sight, but Narumi hissed.

"Shizune, tell Hime what has happened and get Shiki down here immediately." He ordered the woman, but a man spoke up.

"I'm here already." The male voice said and a handsome man materialized out of the crowd. Narumi regarded him and then the crowd around them.

"We need to move him to a more secure location to question him. Shiki, I need you to put your one of your barriers around him. I don't know what he has done to Luna, but is obvious that we have been compromised." He said and turned to look at the people surrounding them. "Everyone go back to your homes but be prepared to leave. Once we are done questioning this person, we will decide what needs to be done." Natsume felt that it would be better if he just told them to leave, but maybe Narumi did not want to panic everyone.

While Narumi was barking orders at everyone, old man Inari was looking intently at their prisoner. "You. You! I know you!" he yelled at the strange man and pointed an accusing finger at him. "But you're dead! You died years ago! Just who are you? What are you doing here?" the old man began ranting at the top of his thin voice.

Mikan moved herself in between Ji-chan and their prisoner and tried to calm the old man while gently herding him away. But the old man refused to calm down and kept ranting "You're dead!"

Natsume marched over to the mystery man that was still lying on the ground in pain. His features were vaguely familiar, but he was fairly certain he did not know the man. "If you even think of trying something I'll fry you to a crisp." He warned, moving in to pick the man up.

"Oh I don't think we need to worry about that. I'm sure he will be more than happy to come along willingly. Won't you?" Narumi stated, and Natsume realized he was using his seduction on their prisoner.

The former Luna must have already been familiar with Narumi's power because it was obvious by the way he was squirming that he was trying to get away from its influence. Narumi however was not about to be dodged, he sauntered up the man who was trying his best to crawl away from him in terror, but Naru leaned over, grabbed his head and placed a rather chaste kiss on his cheek. The contact was instantly effective. The man stopped trying to get away and instead tried to get closer to the incubus. His cheeks were suddenly flushed and he had this dreamy look on his face.

Ew, tell him he did not look like that when Narumi had used that trick on him. He would have to kill himself three times over to save himself from the humiliation.

Just as Narumi promised, the man went along happily and quietly to a secure basement room in Hime's house. By the time they got there, most of the black marks on his skin had receded. Serio, unlike his twin counterpart Persona, clearly did not release the full strength of his alice just because he could. Which was good because that meant they could question the man without being worried he was going to die at any moment.

Once there, Narumi sat the man down and started asking questions.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Luna." The man said with a dreamy smile looking eager to please Narumi with prompt answers.

"Of course you are" Narumi assured charmingly, and the guy looked like he was about to wet himself with Narumi's approval. "But what happened to the first Luna?" he asked encouragingly, with just a slight edge to his tone.

"The half-demon? She died a long time ago." Was the dismissive answer. "You don't need to worry about her, you only need me." The man said with adoration.

"A half-demon really? What was she like?" Naru asked with a sweet smile.

"For the most part she was just a pathetic half-human looking for approval from everybody." The man said with a disgusted tone. "The only real value she had was her soul sucking."

"Soul sucking? What does it do?" Narumi asked, trying to steer the man towards the answers they wanted. Happy that he still had Narumi's attention, he was eager to answer.

"When she bit the neck of her victims, she was able to steal a piece of their soul and make them her slaves. Like a vampire only much stronger. I have been getting better at using it myself. I managed to keep Hime under control for almost a year now, but with practice I should be able to keep them under control indefinitely." He said excitedly. Natsume spotted the man with the barrier, Shiki cast a dark look at the prisoner.

"Really? You have her power now?" Narumi said, pretending to be highly impressed. "How did that happen?"

The man gave him a secretive smile. "The king gave it to me when I came here." Natsume held his breath. _Here it comes._

"Wow, so how long have you been here?" Narumi sugary voice and actions were meant to look impressed, but the only one who was fooled by his sweetness was the one under his spell.

"Since the beginning. I was supposed to hand over the creatures living in this place to the king. But then Yuka showed up with her bargain, so I was sent to another mission."

"So what made you come back?"

"I came back to find Yuka after she went missing."

Anger flashed in the incubus' eyes but thankfully their prisoner was still stuck deep in infatuation and quite oblivious to it. "So you were kind enough to let the king know you had found her?" he asked, and his smile was no longer sweet, it was harsh and frightening. Natsume reached over and gave his mate's hand a comforting squeeze.

The prisoner nodded excitedly. It was a wonder to Natsume how strong the seduction spell was that the man could not see the hateful aura pouring off the incubus. Everyone else in the room was tense and expecting Narumi to attack the prisoner at any second. "My job was to watch them and wait for another one to help bring her back while also taking care of her idiot mate."

"So when the king came to challenge Izumi you helped him?" the aura around Narumi was almost suffocating now and Natsume braced himself to intercept him at any minute.

The prisoner snorted in derision. "I helped him, but it was not the king." That surprised them all. If he wasn't the king then who was he?

"Not the king? Are you sure?"

"He was a-" the man's voice cut off suddenly and he looked confused at his inability to speak.

"He was a?" Narumi prompted and again the man looked to be struck mute and incapable of speech. No matter how much he moved his mouth, no sounds would come out. He looked around the room with a worried look on his face and appeared to be more aware that he should be while under Narumi's spell.

"Something is blocking his words." Natsume stated, but by now they were all clearly aware of it. It could be a spell or a hypnotic suggestion. Damn, did he wish he had Koko here right now.

Narumi gave the prisoner an irritated look. "Shiki, on my mark, make your barrier as strong as you can, Serio can you use a bit of your power to weaken him and any resistance he might have?"

A black smoke appeared in the room and drifted over towards the unknown man. "What is going on? Why am I here?" the prisoner asked, clearly breaking Narumi's spell. His coherency lasted for all of ten seconds when he cried out in pain because the smoke had settled on his skin like malevolent dust. As soon as the marks appeared on his skin Narumi swept in and kissed him full on the mouth. Now when he pulled away, the man looked way more than just dazed, he looked drugged.

"Now Shiki" Natsume was unable to tell the difference in the barrier but the prisoner grunted like he was hit with something.

"Tell me, what are you and the one who came disguised as the king?"

The man's head wobbled and his eyes looked bleary. He was barely able to focus on Narumi. "We are all a part of the king." He said with a drunken smile.

"How can you be part of the king?"

Behind him, Mikan gasped and started fluttering her arms like she had something urgent to say but all she blurted out was "Misaki!" too deep under the seduction spell, the prisoner did not register her words but the rest of them all turned to look at her.

"What?" Narumi asked.

"Misaki, Misaki!" she said urgently flapping her arms around like a chicken.

"What the hell are you talking about? What does he have to do with anything?" Natsume asked under his breath, thinking of the sage. He could tell Mikan had something crucial to say through their bond, but she was not making sense.

"No not that Misaki, Misaki Tsubasa's Misaki!" Mikan said testily. She stopped to take a deep breath before she continued. "Misaki has this ability to make a copy of herself! It makes her a good thief because while she is on a job, she has a duplicate creating an alibi for her. What if it was something like that?"

Natsume was quite sure his jaw managed to hit the floor. When he looked around, everyone else had similar looks.

Narumi, with his eyes looking a little wild turned back to the prisoner. "Tell me are you a copy of the king?" he asked gently.

The man gave him a dazed look "A clone." Natsume was quite sure his heart stopped. A lot of pieces started to fall into place. Holy shit they were in trouble.

"So when you were talking about another coming, you meant that he is also like you?"

"Of course. All of us are clones. The king is far too busy to take care of everything by himself. And who else can you trust but yourself?"

tbc

* * *

Yay I managed to squeeze in Shiki! All of you Shiki fans have SeraphMia to thank for his cameo. Up until I was talking with her I had no idea how to fit him in and I had given up hope of ever doing so. Thanks to her I managed to squeeze him in.

You know I was tempted to stop this chapter at the point where Luna turns into a man, but that would just be too cruel. Even for me.

So, now you all now know the big secret the king was hiding. Be careful now. He has been known to kill people to keep his secret.

Now for those of you who still might not get it, I'll say it plain. All of the bad guys are Kuonji. His spies, his minions, anyone that he has doing an important job for him are him. Now before you start to worry about the way his alice halves his age, remember dragons age very slowly. There is little to no difference between a dragon who is forty, and one who is eighty. A dragon could make himself last indefinitely and not have to worry about his appearance changing much. Of course, there is the small problem of having multiple version of oneself around so it would be imperative to use illusion or shape-shifting magic to hide the extra copies.

Now, why doesn't Natsume recognize this guy as the king? Well, I think I'll leave that for you to figure out. You are all very clever I'm sure you will figure it out no problem.


	28. Chapter 28

I guess I threw a few people for a loop last chapter hopefully this chapter will clear some mysteries up a bit.

* * *

A Dragon's Heart – Chapter 28

The man gave him a dazed look "Of course, we are all clones. The king is far too busy to take care of everything by himself. Who else can you trust but yourself?"

Clones.

The king had freakin' clones at his disposal. What the hell did that mean for them?

Natsume's mind was immediately brought back to the story Ji-chan told them about the death of Mikan's father. The old man had said that there was something not right about the fight. This clone had probably poisoned or crippled Izumi in some way so he was too weak to fight the other clone. And then there was the part where Ji-chan had said he was sure that he had killed him by sweeping him into the ocean and drowning him. Obviously the clone had died, while the king waited like a coward back at the estate.

Off to the side he heard his uncle call him. "Natsume." He whispered harshly. "You said there was a man who looked just like me at the estate. Could that have been another clone? Although I don't know how I could be cloned without my knowing it."

Crap, Persona! Why didn't he think of that? And the Goshima kid that the bear said smelled funny. Things were all starting to make so much more sense. They were all spies for the king. More they were totally trustworthy because they were a part of the king. He wondered how strong their connection to the king was. Was it like the bond he and Mikan shared or was it telepathic like with Aoi and Luka? Could the king see and know everything the clones knew? Gods, what did he say around that Goshima kid? Or Persona for that matter?

Narumi shook his head answering his uncle's question. "I don't think it was you that was cloned. He said 'who can you trust but yourself' which would suggest they all come from the king."

"But why would he go through all of this trouble if he had a bunch of clones at his disposal? Why bother hiding them at all?" Natsume speculated more to himself than the others. For all he knew, his grandfather could have an army of clones so why hide such a force? "Mikan, just what is Misaki's power like?"

His mate blinked at him in surprise. "Actually, it is almost nothing like this. It was just something about what he said about all being a part of the king that made me think of her and her power. But the copies she makes are nothing like this. There is a limit to how long they last and how many she can make. The more she makes, the harder it is on her, and the shorter the time they last. And no matter how long they last, they are still just an extension of her. This ability is more like cellular division where he is creating a whole independent being that lives on its own."

Natsume gave her an odd look at her explanation. "We need to know more about how this works, what they are doing, and how many clones we are dealing with. Making a clone might be harder than we are thinking." He gave a nod to the incubus to indicate he should continue his questioning.

Narumi turned his charm back up to maximum and looked at the prisoner who was not looking so good. "Are you sure you are a clone? You look far too special to be a clone. I honestly can't even imagine how the king even makes a clone!" he gushed exuberantly and his victim gave another drunken smile. He looked pleased beyond belief that he was able to impress Narumi and he was more than happy to continue to explaining.

"He is not actually trying to make us, he is really trying to stay young." The clone said in an excited voice. The smile briefly dropped off Narumi's face leaving one of horror before it was quickly replaced. Fortunately the clone missed it.

"Young?" he asked in a slightly higher pitched voice. The clone's head nodded eagerly, but in his current state, he looked more like one of those bobble head toys.

"When a clone is made he takes half of the years of the original."

"Half the years of the original?" Serio parroted voicing the confusion of the others. "So if the king was ninety years old, that would mean… ?" he trailed off.

"There would be a king and a clone that are both forty-five years old?" Natsume speculated, and Narumi took his cue to question the prisoner.

"So when he creates a clone, are he and the clone he makes are half the age he was originally?" Again the clone gave his bobble head nod. "So then how old is the king?"

"I think he is around six hundred and eighty. He has started to lose count."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, did he just say _HE_ has lost count? Does that mean that the king knows _everything_ the clones know and vice-versa?" Natsume asked frantically. That would be worse than a telepathic bond. Did that connection work both ways? That would mean that the king was already aware of them capturing his clone. Shit! If that Goshima kid was a clone in disguise, he could already know about the evacuation even with him unconscious! And depending on how well this clone was spying on them, he may already know about Mikan's stealing alice.

In the background he heard Narumi carefully fashioning his question. Natsume still did not like the incubus, but he had to respect the man's talent. By just adding the tiniest dose of flattery the clone was willing to spill his guts to him. "The king knows everything we know." The clone said in a slurred voice and started to list to the side. The marks from his uncle's alice started to reappear and seemed to be spreading.

"Something is not right. My alice looks like it is spreading, but I did not use enough to do more hurt him a little." Serio said quietly. Natsume looked at the clone and could see something was definitely wrong with him. He was clearly getting weaker than the rot alice could account for. The only other thing that had happened was Narumi's seduction power which only made him act drunk, and the barrier around him that completely separated him from the king.

_His connection to the king _he thought to himself. Perhaps the clone needs his connection to the king to survive.

"Possibly this is not quite like cellular division. It might be more like a tree with branches. Where Misaki's copies are like a blossom that dies off quickly after they served their purpose, these might be more like a branch that is able to survive as long as they stay connected to the original." Narumi made an attempt to get the clone to respond, but his eyes had drifted closed and if he was not tied to the chair, he would have fallen off.

"We can't possibly have Shiki let up on his barrier. If the king knows what everything the clone knows, then he is already aware of the capture of his spy. We won't have much time before he attacks and wipes out everyone in the place." Serio speculated.

"No, he won't. We have something he wants more than any of the people here." Natsume said grimly, looking at his mate. Shape shifting and illusion spells to disguise the clones were easy enough to come by, but the stealing alice was probably where the clones got their extra powers. This clone using the half-demon Luna's soul sucking power, Persona using the rot alice, they were probably all from the cache that Mikan's mother Yuka had stolen.

Natsume shook his head. It was a risk they had to take. "We need to find out how many clones he has, where they are at, what they know, and why he does not look anything like the king." He turned to Shiki "Can you try to weaken your barrier a little? If something tries to break through on either side, increase your barrier at once."

Shiki gave him a less than friendly look, but must have followed his suggestion anyway because the clone started to look a little less like a corpse. His breathing improved and he raised his head feebly. Narumi took up his questioning again.

"How many clones are there?"

The clone's face scrunched up as if he was trying to remember something difficult. "Fiiiivvvee." He slurred, still sounding out of it.

"Are they all in Japan?"

The clone shook his wobbly head and made a mushy sound with his mouth that vaguely sounded like "phthrrreeeyyee"

"Was that three? There are three here right now?" and the clone's head managed a single nod yes.

"How quickly can the other two get here if needed?" Narumi asked but they never got the answer. Instead Shiki grunted in pain and doubled over.

At the same time the clone snapped straight back in his chair as if an unseen force had hit him. Natsume and Narumi took a cautious steep back from him while Mikan and Serio checked on the stunned Shiki. The clone's head was tilted all the way back to look up at the ceiling. They watched as he took a deep shuddering breath like he had just surfaced from being underwater too long. After a few moments, he sat up normally in his chair and glared hatefully at his captors finishing on Natsume.

"Tsk, tsk Natsume. You know what they say about curiosity and cats." The look on the clone's face was that same cold cruel look of his grandfather and he had no doubt he was talking to the old man rather than the vessel.

Natsume sneered at him "At least now I can see you for the coward you really are. You have never done anything for yourself have you? The power you have obtained has nothing to do with your strength, it was all your clones. You would send them in to other clans disguised as one of their own to learn their weaknesses and secrets. Then you would use what you learned to crush them without even lifting a finger. You're no dragon who fights to protect what is his. You are a worm that uses cheap tricks to steal what others have."

Anger flared briefly in the prisoner's eyes before it was controlled. "Bold words from a child who cannot even protect a handful of subordinates or his sister." Natsume felt the blow to his pride, but he did not let it show. The old man was not done taunting him yet though. "I will trade you your supposed mate for your sister."

Natsume gave and involuntary snarl "How about I kill you and take them both?"

"My, my, suddenly feeling brave enough to challenge me are you? Come then. I will welcome putting you in your place." He said smoothly. "I should have clipped your wings a long time ago." He finished, and something about the look in his eyes changed so that Natsume and the others were sure they were no longer talking directly to the king, but back to the clone now.

The clone gave an arrogant look around the room before his eyes grew impossibly wide and then he suddenly collapsed, dead.

_Shit_ Natsume swore to himself. "The bastard must have had some sort of spell or hypnotic suggestion implanted in case one of his clones was discovered."

Narumi gave a silent nod of agreement. "Well, we found out a few things anyway. There are only three clones in the country right now and if we act fast, we might be able to get everyone away before the other two arrive. We know that one is disguised as Serio and this one is dead. Hopefully we will not run into the third one somewhere."

"You won't."

"What? Why?"

"I'm fairly sure we have him. Before we came here my sister had been captured, so I sent my subordinates that he was talking about away. I'm fairly sure he has a spy with them."

"So other than the one that looks like Serio-"

"Persona." Natsume corrected.

"This Persona is the only one protecting the king."

"Not exactly. He still has his guards and supporters, but yes there is only one clone with him. If both of them were dead…" he left the thought hanging open for it did not need to be said. The king might disguise himself as Persona and Persona could disguise himself as the king, but if both were dead, chances are Japan would finally be free of him.

"You mean to really challenge him." Narumi gave him a grave look.

"This is my best chance, if I wait he might make a new clone or call the other ones back and then I would never know which one was the real one."

The incubus nodded at him. "You will not be alone."

"I don't need your help." He stated stubbornly and realized what a horrible lie that was. Heck, he needed a bloody army with advanced weaponry.

"I wasn't giving you a choice. That man has taken everything that was ever important to me. If he is going down, I am going to be there. I'll take Mikan-chan's spot."

"But I'm going t-" Mikan began to say but was cut right off.

"NO!" Natsume, Narumi, Serio and even the hunched over Shiki all exclaimed together.

Mikan gave them a mutinous look but stayed silent. He could tell by the stubborn set of her jaw that she was silently plotting a way to come, so he gave her something he knew she could not refuse. "I need you to go out and meet the evacuation group. Now that I know what I am looking for, I'm pretty sure that Goshima kid that is with them is another one of the clones. Currently he is out cold because that bear of yours attacked him, but I need you to explain to the others just what he is and what has happened."

"What do you want us to do with him?" she asked and Natsume was secretly relieved at her wording. She had unwittingly accepted the task he had given her.

"Keep him unconscious, but alive. If we succeed in killing the king, the clone should react so we will know if we have the right one."

"I don't like any of this. It sounds like a trap." Serio said, adding his own thoughts.

"Oh I'm sure it is, but hopefully it won't close shut all around us." The young red dragon looked at the dead clone. "He looks so familiar, yet so different."

Narumi nodded. "I have thought about that myself and I think I know what he has done." They all gave him a look to continue. "If you remember when Ji-chan saw this man he said he died a long time ago, and apparently the king is several hundred years old. I think to hide his lack of aging and his clones he has been 'fake dying' and changing his appearance to become someone new. It is likely that what we know the king to look like is not real at all. What you see here is probably what he really looks like.

You also asked before why he bothered hiding his clones and I think this here with us right now is the reason. If anyone knew he had clones, they would know to keep coming at him until they reached the original. The secret of his clones has kept him protected up until now."

It made sense. Knowing that the bastard had clones, so much about the king made sense. The way he was always five steps ahead of his enemies, the image that he was impossible to defeat, it all made so much more sense. A part of Natsume felt horribly stupid for not seeing it sooner. His mind quickly flitted through all the information he knew about the king and found so many points that could all tieback to his clones. Suddenly another big piece clicked into place. The psychics! The old man always kept psychics far away from the clan because they would probably be able to tell there was something odd about him and his clones.

_But that doesn't make sense, what about Koko? He should have picked something up._ The thought lasted for a few seconds and then he answered his own question. _The mission he was sent on of course._ The king probably used the mission as a way to test him. Not only did Koko pass, he was too badly scarred from that event to even dare to think about looking into Persona or the King's mind. Natsume was also sure that if he had failed, Koko would never have made it back from that mission.

"We need to get out of here and tell everyone what has happened."

"Do you think that is wise? It could cause a panic among the others."

Natsume thought about it for a second, but Mikan was the one who answered. "Yes we should." The others looked at her in surprise. "Think about it. For over six hundred years he has been keeping this secret and using this power to take advantage of others. This secret is his only edge, once people know about it, they know to be wary of it. If anything, you should tell as many people as you can and have them tell as many people as they can. If this trap does end up closing up around us, then at least others will be safe and forewarned. If everyone in the mystical world knew about his clones then sooner or later someone would get him."

Natsume felt a swell of pride towards her. Gods she was just too adorable! The red dragon was tempted to grab her and kiss her from hair to toes and back again but he obviously could not. Stupid grandfather and his scheming and politics ruining what should be the best night of his life!

_Ah, to hell with it_ he reached over and snagged his mate and dragged her to him giving her a hot kiss that probably made the other men in the room uncomfortable. He reluctantly pulled away and looked at them. "Well you heard her, gather your people and tell them everything that has happened and I'll meet you outside of our place in say…" he gave his rather irresistible woman an appraising look "an hour?" he suggested before dragging her out of Hime's place.

"Natsume I can't believe you just said that to them! Everyone is going to know what we are doing!" she yelled at him sounding mortified.

He paused long enough to pull her against him. "Mikan, love, I don't like explaining myself twice. Other couples get to have wedding nights, and honeymoons, but all we have is a few short hours and I don't want to waste any more of it." He clarified while scooping her up and running at top speed back to their place.

If she wanted to complain after this was all over he would let her go on for days if she wanted to, but right now he had better things to do. Much better.

* * *

The people in the community were quite panicked. Apparently they did not take the news about the king having clones or being spied on well at all. There was a wild, tense edge to the atmosphere and Natsume was quite convinced that if anyone burped too loud, it would send people everywhere stampeding in terror.

Currently he was waiting for Narumi and the others to finish organizing what they were going to do. A lot of people in the community stayed here because Japan was where their magical source was. Nature and animal spirits were usually tied to a specific location and many could not survive for very long away from it. They were currently trying to sort out a temporary location where they could go with Hime, Shiki and Misaki (the man) could hide them.

A few others wanted to offer their support to Natsume and Narumi, one of which included his uncle Serio. Rather surprisingly was that Ji-chan and Nobara wanted to join Mikan on her assignment. They had all tried to convince the old man to stay with the larger group, but he was adamant to stay with the last remaining sea dragon from the area aside from him. According to him, the lake, like the ocean, missed her sea dragons and longed for the birth Mikan and Natsume's babies. A statement that made the newly mated couple shuffle awkwardly.

They were still trying to shuffle and organize themselves when Mikan looked up at the pre-dawn sky. "Hime-sama, could you possibly let up on your barrier, we are about to have company."

The person who took the news that Luna was both a man and a spy for the king the hardest was Hime. She looked terribly worn out and had visibly aged over the past few hours. Natsume suspected that part of that was due to the soul-sucking ability that was used to control her, but he also knew part of it came from old fashioned betrayal. He could understand that. He did not feel so hot himself either. Many of the things he thought he knew to be true in his life were completely false. It can certainly shake a person's confidence.

Hime gave Mikan a tired nod and let up on the barrier. Unfortunately, they should have mentioned the newcomer to the rest of the people on the ground because many started screaming when a gold dragon with odd blackish marks on its hide appeared in the sky above them.

"IT'S ALRIGHT! IT'S ALRIGHT!" Mikan yelled over them. The dragon quickly changed himself into the form of a man with long hair and Mikan rushed in to hug him. "THIS IS MY UNCLE TONO!" She yelled by way of explanation when everyone stood ready to attack him. Eventually after many reassurances, everyone started to calm down, but no one was pleased by the fright they just had.

Natsume marched straight up to his mate and pulled her away from her uncle, draping a possessive arm about her shoulders. Her uncle Tono or Akira (apparently the nickname came from the alias he preferred when he was on a job although why they used his alias over his given name was still a mystery to Natsume) he was a long and lean man just like Mikan's father and Tsubasa with a handsome face. Although just like Tsubasa's tattoo, Natsume did not think much of the man's long black hair that fell past his shoulders. It made him look like a girl.

Tono's gaze dropped to the arm resting on his niece then to the surrounding crowd. "I see you have been having fun without me." He said with a droll look, using the same slightly accented Japanese Mikan and the others did. "So, what did you get into now and how many asses do I have to kick?"

"Well you probably already heard most of it from Tsubasa, but there have been a few new things that we have learned."

One black brow went up and he turned to look meaningfully at Natsume. "And he is?"

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Mikan give him an awkward look. Through their bond he could feel her floundering for a way to answer the question. He would have been hurt by her reluctance to introduce him, but he could tell it was not because she was ashamed of him.

"Her mate." Natsume answered bluntly, and the other man's hostility went from nil to full intensity in less than a second. Come to think of it, this was the first air dragon that he had met from her family and he knew quite well how territorial air dragons were. And family was a part of territory.

Stalking up to a dragon and claiming mate status of a family member was just one step above announcing that he had stolen something of theirs and claiming it was his now. Not the best first impression for his new in-laws but his competitive nature and status would not let him back down either.

"Watch it brat, you have no right to be looking at or touching my niece like that much less claiming to be anyone's mate." He declared, forcing Natsume's own hostility up. But before either one could do anything, Mikan stepped between them.

"Stop, both of you, Tono, this _IS_ my mate, Natsume." Upon hearing that, her uncle looked at her with and incredulous what-have-you-gotten-into-now look. When he saw that she was dead serious, he dropped his face into his palm and shook his head. "You are just as impulsive as Izumi."

She gave him a small grin. "Like father, like daughter I guess." She said quietly and rounded on Natsume "And you! I was not trying to hide our relationship. It just suddenly occurred to me that only three people in my family have even met you but-"

"Four." Tono interrupted.

"Huh?"

"Four have met him. Tsubasa and Misaki exchanged oaths last night."

"Really?" she asked, then started clapping and jumping happily "Oh I'm so happy for them! It's about time too."

"I'll say. Did you really give this punk your oath?"

"Watch it grease-ball or I'll burn that hair off your head." He said and produced a small fireball in his palm.

Tono appeared mildly impressed by his use of fire at night, but mostly the look on his face was amused. "That is quite the attitude he has. You would think he would be more polite when meeting members of our family considering he thinks he is going to be a part of it."

Natsume really wanted to say something to that, but then chose to stay silent. The man might be annoying, but he had a point. Mikan really cared about her family and it would upset her if Natsume got into a fight every time he met one of them. He did shoot the man a resentful look though. Tono quirked an eyebrow that showed he was aware of his reluctant silence and looked almost impressed with his restraint.

"So what did I miss?" he asked and Mikan spent the next twenty minutes explaining and answering his questions. Unlike his younger brother, the long haired man went through and questioned every little detail.

"So when the clone changed into a dragon, did it appear to be an otherwise normal red dragon?" he asked again.

Natsume rolled his eyes and was wondering where the man was going with his questioning. "The size was comparable to mine. The color looked normal too, why?"

"Did he use any attacks on you?"

"Again, no he was trying to get away."

"Alright, then you should hold off trying to attack him until very late in the day."

"If I wait too long it will give him time to call his other clones to him. Or he might be able make another clone. More importantly he will expect me to attack him at night because that is when he is weakest."

"Exactly. Ideally he wants to fight you during the day when both he and his clones have their full dragon powers. I think he was trying to goad you into losing your temper and charging in recklessly. However, he is smart enough to factor in the possibility that you might show a bit of caution and wait until nightfall when you still have your fire power and he does not."

Natsume fought hard not to yell at this idiot and tell him to hurry up. Everything he was saying was something he already knew.

"The time when he would least expect you to attack is later in the day while he still has his power, _but_ the time he has with that power is limited."

"What?" Natsume asked, not getting where the idiot was going.

"Because the time to use his fire is limited, he will want to try and take you out as quickly as possible before nightfall. With luck he will use and possibly exhaust his best resources that he would have normally saved for his nighttime defense. It will be hard, but if you can somehow last until nightfall, not only will he be weak, he will also be defenseless."

Natsume stared at the other dragon in shock. He tested the theory in his mind and although there were holes -like having the king anticipate such an attack- for the most part it was a sound strategy. He did not want to admit it, but it was better than anything he could come up with. He did not doubt this man probably made one hell of a thief with his clever mind.

At that point Shizune showed up looking very different. Her formal robes were gone and instead she was wearing plain non-descript clothes with a clipboard in hand and a pair of glasses perched on her nose. "Hyuuga-san, Narumi, we have sorted out most of the details of where everyone is going now and the sooner we go the better. Hime would like to know if there is anything more you need before we leave?" She asked in her fine, cultured voice.

Naru did not get to answer her though because Tono beat him to it. "Wow you look like a really smart girl and it just so happens I have a real weakness for smart girls. Smart girls are so hot. Hey honey, what do you say about you and I having our own private little evacuation? I'll keep you _well_ protected. I'll shield your body for as long as you like."

Forget what Natsume thought about him ever being clever or a good strategist. The guy was an idiot.

Shizune did not appear too impressed either. She opened her mouth and let out a sound that made Natsume feel like needles were stabbing into his brain and had him seeing stars. Once he cleared his vision and his ears, he had found that the woman had left. Across from him Tono was looking about with an excited grin on his face.

"Did you see that? That a real siren!" he said excitedly like he had just found something he had been looking for his whole life "Oooo and she is feisty one at that! Did you see which way she went?" he asked Mikan, who was the only one unaffected by the woman's sound. Personally Natsume could not see the appeal of a woman whose voice could melt your brain, but Tono clearly had strange tastes.

"Hey babe, where did you run off to? You don't need to be shy for me!"

Make that very strange tastes. Natsume touched his ears to make sure his eardrums were not bleeding. That voice of hers was vicious. He would have liked to ask her to come with him and help, but the idiot probably scared her off.

Mikan looked at her uncle in disgust and rolled her eyes. "Come on Natsume, now that his thinking has dropped below his waistband, he will be completely useless." They moved away from Tono who began actively looking for his missing siren.

"So are we agreed? We will wait until late afternoon or early evening?" The incubus asked.

Natsume and Serio nodded and an idea came to the young red dragon when he looked at Mikan. "Since it is not even dawn yet, does anyone have a problem with going part of the way with the others?" They were already all going in the same direction anyway and it would give him a chance to make sure Mikan was alright. They could stick with them until just past the estate then double back to attack from the other side.

The other men had unusually bland looks on their faces and shook their heads. They were all completely aware of his reasons for wanting to stay with Mikan but thankfully none of them was going to make an issue of it. With a little more shuffling, they were off before the sun had broken through the horizon.

Because they knew where they were going this time, the trip out of Hokkaido moved along much faster than going in. The group broke up quickly with Hime's group breaking into smaller groups and choosing to move along land where their group snuck into a quiet little fishing town and Narumi used his influence to hijack a fishing boat to move southward down the coast line.

Surprisingly and much to Tono's pleasure (or everyone else's annoyance depending on your point of view), Shizune agreed to come along and use her ability to help.

It would not have been such a bad trip if they were not all stuck on the same boat while Tono spent the entire time hitting on the siren. "You know with your brains and my looks our kids would be amazing!" Ugh, uncle or not, if the creep uttered one more pick up line, Natsume was going to kill him. No wonder Mikan had difficulties with intimacy; she had the most bizarre family.

Mikan and Ji-chan escaped listening to Tono by slipping overboard into the water, Narumi, Serio and Nobara claimed the small area below deck to catch up on their sleep which left him with a lusty pervert dragon and a cranky siren to pilot the boat. Lucky him.

Not that he could sleep anyway. He was way too tense worrying about what the day would bring. It was strange to think that by this time tomorrow, everything would be done. Either the king would be gone, or… they would be. Gods, he wished he could have had more time with Mikan. He wished he could have started a family with her, but now the chances of that depended on the outcome of today.

He didn't tell her, but when they were organizing to leave he had arranged to have her parents things shipped to the place she was living in California. At one point, he had opened a box and had found a handmade mobile for a baby's crib. He had recognized the artistry belonging to his dad, Kaito Hyuuga immediately but it was the decoration that caught him.

On the two ends of one arm there were tiny hand painted green and blue sea dragons swimming. On the ends of the cross piece, was a red and gold dragon in flight. It was obviously made for Mikan so she could look up and see the four dragons endlessly flying and swimming above her. The harmless thing sent a hard pang through his chest and he hoped that one day his own children would see it.

An enormous blue-green head coming up over the edge of the boat brought him out of his worries. "Hey gorgeous." He said affectionately, caressing Mikan's large wedge shaped head. With a magical surge, she was suddenly there on deck, sopping wet.

"Are you okay?" she asked, looking worried.

"Yeah." His voice was a little rough with emotions he did not even have a week ago. "I guess I'm just…"

"Nervous?"

"Uneasy. I don't know what will happen today."

She took his face into her hands and looked at him. Through their bond, she poured loving support and showed some of her own worries. "You will be careful right?"

"As careful as I can be."

She made a face at him. "Can't you just lie and say 'yes I will be perfectly fine'?"

"Yes I will be perfectly fine." He said with a small grin before pulling her closer. He had to be fine. He had so much to live for now.

* * *

tbc

Ick. I'm really sorry if this feels like a filler chapter, but I needed to help iron out some explanations and I did not think it felt right to just jump into the fight. But having said that, THE END IS COMING! Rejoice! There is a light at the end of this tunnel of never ending story. I just know I'm going to be horrified when I finally add up how many words and chapters this will be.

Now it is time for battle.

Dun-dun-dunnnnn


	29. Chapter 29

For those of you who have waited ever so patiently, I say thank you and I will not take any more of your time.

On with the next extra long chapter!

**A Dragon's Heart – Chapter 29**

Mikan had only been away from Natsume for a few hours and already she was almost out of her mind with worry for him. She did not like this, not at all. It was almost driving her crazy being separated from him when he was clearly going to be in danger and it took most of her will not to turn around and swim right back at him.

Arrgh that man! _Sending me off on some errand like a child being sent to their room during grown up talk!_ She ranted in her head, but there was very little conviction to her thoughts. She knew that keeping her away from Natsume's grandfather was necessary and for the best, but that did not mean she had to like it.

What made things more difficult for her was the changes in the bond between them. She could feel the tether between them as surely as she could feel her own heartbeat. The invisible connection stretched out like a bungee behind her steadily growing thinner and weaker with every passing moment, while at the same time it was constantly trying to pull her to back to him. She never expected the mate bond to have such a powerful effect on her. She was not sure if that was due to her peculiar wording during their mating spell or if it was because she was just so stupid in love with the big jerk.

_Mate._

Gods, she did not know if she should squirm, blush, be angry, or laugh at herself. It was still hard for her to believe she had a mate. All those awkward attempts at dating or being hated for the most part by any magical being she met. She had almost accepted it as truth that she was never meant to mate. All of those times that she had suppressed her own needs and nature because she was so sure there was never going to be someone out there who she would want and was going to want her back. Yet here she was with a handsome sexy mate that she could barely keep her hands off of and could make her do and feel things she had never even dared imagine.

Heat rushed through her despite the cool water gliding along her skin. _Natsume was right, a handful of hours is not enough to properly celebrate a dragon mating _she muttered silently to herself and then almost laughed at herself at the frustrated thought. Her need for him was just insane and completely unexpected. Who would have ever pegged her as the sex-fiend type?

She felt a dark ripple along their bond and knew that Natsume had picked up the direction of her thoughts regardless of the growing distance between them. Although she could not actually hear the words, she knew he was teasing her about her wicked thoughts of him and was also adding his own wicked promises in return. His mental presence filled her mind and brushed against it like an intimate caress causing her pulse to quicken. Reluctantly, he pulled his mind back to where he was and what he was doing, leaving her with a throbbing, empty ache.

Well it was her own fault if she was aching and feeling sexually frustrated. She was the one who let her thoughts wander where they should not be and dragged Natsume...

All of a sudden her thoughts did a quick one hundred and eighty degree turn when she realized that her wayward mind had just drawn Natsume's attention when he needed to be focusing to what he was doing. _Stupid s_he thought angrily. _Stupid, stupid, stupid! Stop distracting him with your selfish needs!_ She mentally yelled at herself and continued to call herself all kinds of nasty names. The very last thing she should be doing is disrupting his focus.

Giving herself several good mental kicks in the arse, she forced her attention on where she was and what she was doing.

Currently she and Ji-chan were swimming through the Philippine Sea and moving as fast as Mikan dared to push the old man and Nobara. Mikan gave the old sea dragon a careful look to assure herself he was not straining himself too much. Once she had confirmed that he was alright, she gave the same measuring gaze to her passenger.

Mikan had never met a snow woman before, but she had certainly heard of them. They were a psychic vampire type that created blinding snow storms and fed off of the unwary travelers that became lost in the frozen whiteness. To Mikan, they had always sounded horrible, but she had found Nobara to be a very sweet, gentle creature that was almost painfully shy.

What really surprised her was seeing a snow woman with her magical power of ice and snow mated to an air dragon. Serio, like the rest of his kind, was extremely sensitive to freezing temperatures. By Mikan's way of thinking, she figured they must really be in love to be able to overcome their natural incompatibility.

Unlike the dragons, Nobara did not possess the ability to travel long distances. She could, if necessary, transform herself into a snowstorm and travel along the winds, but that left her with little control over her destination and vulnerable to other elements.

Given that they were in a tropical climate and nearing the equator, the snow woman would have to travel extremely high up in the atmosphere to not melt away. At that height, she could literally be dumped anywhere the wind currents took her. They were aiming for the Solomon Islands, but the snow woman could just as easily end up in Greenland.

Instead, Nobara encased herself in some sort of ice shell that looked far too much like a coffin for Mikan's liking. She was leery of the safety and wisdom dragging something like that behind her underwater, but Nobara had assured her that she could keep her ice shell from melting apart in the warmer ocean waters. Apparently she also did not need to breathe as frequently as most creatures with her vampire longevity, because there was definitely not enough air in that ice coffin for a normal human.

Warily eyeing the disturbing capsule, it was hard to tell if the occupant inside was in distress or not. She appeared to be in some kind of stasis or trance which to Mikan made it look even more like a coffin with a dead woman in it so it was very hard to tell if she was okay or not.

Well since said ice coffin was still all together and looked the same as when they left, Mikan guessed that Nobara must be using her magic to keep it intact. By that logic, the woman inside was probably okay.

'_Mikan.'_ Her uncle Tono called to her and she noticed an odd tone to his mental voice.

_Yes?_ She asked cautiously.

'_Something is wrong.'_ He said with absolute certainty and Mikan could feel his worry.

_What? What could be wrong?_ She asked looking around her again.

'_I should be able to feel Tsubasa by now but I can't reach him. You were always closer to Sumire than I was, can you try to reach her?'_

Feeling slightly panicked, she screamed out at the top of her mind for both Tsubasa and Sumire hoping to reach either one.

Just like Tono had said there was no response from Tsubasa which sent a cold feeling of dread through her. She did however get a response from Sumire that sounded like bad radio reception, both close and distant at the same time.

'_Mikan!'_

_SUMIRE!_ She called back desperately and she could feel Tono piggybacking her thought trying to add his strength to hers.

'_It is a trap! Hunters everywhere… caught us by surprise… still fighting… wearing us down… No Koko!'_

_Sumire! SUMIRE! _Mikan and called and called again but there was no answer.

'_They are close.' _Her uncle stated and Mikan could tell he was trying to control his alarm._ 'REAL close, but something must have happened to them because they should never have been defeated in open water. Mikan, call the water and find out where they are, I'm going to try and fly higher to see if I can see anything.' _

Mikan gave him the mental equivalent of a nod and broke off to concentrate on the water. _Ancient brothers and sisters of the deep, please hear my call and answer my plea _she prayed fervently and felt the spirits of the water restlessly stir and shift at the urgent tone of her call.

_Somewhere in these waters there is someone hunting our beloved family._ In her mind's eye she broadcast not only her blood relatives, but Hotaru, Luka, Youichi and as many of the others as she could give a clear picture of._ Please show me these most vile of poachers and lend me your strength to stop them from hurting our brothers and sisters!_

The open ocean did not often hear a call from sea dragons but it was no less eager to answer her call than the water near Natsume's estate. Instantly, her mind was carried south east from where their current position was. Through the vision of the water she found them.

To her, it looked like something out of one of her worst nightmares. The small group appeared to be trapped on an even smaller island that was surrounded by hunters, human and dragon alike. By Mikan's count there were at least a dozen boats and almost as many dragon hunters flying in the sky around them. Quickly, she broadcast what she was seeing directly to her uncle and asked the water to let Ji-chan know what was happening as well.

_Why are they not trying to fly away or burning the boats? With Tsubasa, Sumire and Misaki alone, they should have been able to get away easily._ She wondered.

'_They don't even look to be attacking.'_ Tono added his own thought and Mikan could see he was right. At that point Mikan watched as Hotaru shot a strange looking gun at them and noticed the discharge crashed into an invisible wall. _ 'A barrier?' _Tono called out with alarm.

_Have they have been caged on the island?_ Mikan speculated.

'_No look, the humans' weapons can penetrate._' He noted and they continued to watch for a few moments while continuing to move closer to the island. Mikan watched with growing horror as the hunters continued to pelt the island with projectiles from the boats. Every now and then one of the hunters would add a flash of fire into the mix. On the island, Natsume's group appeared to be doing nothing more than reacting to the attacks as they came.

_Something doesn't seem right._ Mikan said finally. There was something very odd feeling about the fight, but she was having trouble putting her finger on it.

'_Why are the hunters are not moving in to capture them? They just continue to hover outside of the barrier. Without closing in.' _Tono observed.

Once he said that, Mikan could see it too. The people on the island looked worn and beaten; several were already unconscious including Tsubasa she noticed. So why were the hunters not moving in to capture them?

'_It must be the barrier they are using. Perhaps it only allows passage one way.'_ Tono thought.

That meant the evacuees could only defend themselves from the attacks but were unable to use an effective counterattack or even run away. She focused on the island again and could see those that could still fight looked like they were at the limits of their strength while on the outside of the barrier unharmed, their attackers continued to pick them off one by one. It was only a matter of time before the hunters wore them down enough to move in and capture them.

_Like shooting fish in a barrel_ Tono said angrily.

Normally a gentle person by nature, Mikan felt a surge of rage that she never would have believed she was capable of. It was one thing when she had gone to help Natsume and not known him at the time, but she knew these people now. She knew how kind they were, how devoted they were to Natsume and knew how much he cared about them in return. The only thing they were guilty of was wanting to live free of the king's oppression.

The dragon king. Of course.

She had been a naïve fool again. After all of the things she had learned and heard about him, she still had never expected he would stoop so low as to employ dragon hunters and greedy humans to eliminate his enemies. It should never have surprised her but it did.

The king wasn't just a bastard, he was pure evil. Creating the kind of spell that could discriminate what would and would not pass through was not an easy task. It would have taken years to make it just right yet by the look of the hunters, they were quite practiced with using it. It was quite likely she was looking at the reason that Japan no longer had any sea dragons. Hell, this is probably what happened to all of his enemies.

Still tuned in to her thoughts, the water that was had been showing her the visions reacted to her feelings. Somehow without her intention, the spirits of the deep were able to follow her logic and accepted her conclusion that these humans and hunters had caused the loss of so many its children in this part of the world.

In her vision, the water started to become violent. Large waves started appearing out of nowhere tossing the boats about like toys. The waves were not big enough to capsize the boats, but they certainly made their ability to target the people trapped on the island harder.

'_Are you doing that?'_ her uncle asked, still flying high above her.

_The water is reacting to my, and possibly Ji-chan's feelings._ Mikan explained, and felt more than saw her uncle start to spiral down towards her.

'_We're closer than I thought, at this pace we will probably reach them within the next thirty minutes or so. If they have any brains they will be equipped with radar and sonar so we will not be able to sneak up on them slowly.'_

_We will have to go in hard and fast?_ She asked. She may not have followed in the family business, but she had still learned a thing or two, and Tono's mind was one of the best when it came to planning and strategy. _Even if it was obsessed with girls eighty percent of the time_ she thought quietly to herself.

'_We are going to have to. Hold up and get the old man and the snow girl to join you. We need to set up a plan of attack. If you can convince the water to keep up those waves, it should distract the hunters until we can get there.'_

Mikan did as she was told and it was a rather strange battle council with the four of them treading water in the middle of the ocean, miles away from anything. Actually, only Mikan, Ji-chan and Tono were treading water. Nobara kept herself afloat on a block of ice. She had offered to make the block big enough for all of them, but two of them were sea dragons that would much prefer the water, and one was half sea dragon and would always choose water over a miniature iceberg.

"We will only have one chance to catch them by surprise so we should try and take out as many opponents as we can at once." The others had been listening intently for the past several minutes as Tono outlined his plan. As strategies go, his was a fairly simple one, but like most of his plans, it sounded solid. Once he was done explaining he gave his niece a hard look.

"Now Mikan, this is serious, you can't do this half-assed." He warned, knowing she was not a big fan of killing anything or anyone. If she did not attack with all of her strength, everyone would be in danger.

"I'm aware of that." She answered back grimly. She still did not want to kill, but she knew these hunters had probably been picking off mystical creatures for decades. She had to aim to kill because her opponents would have no moral objections to killing her if they got the chance.

Her uncle nodded grimly at her. "Good. What about you? Do you think you can handle what we need you to do?" Tono asked, while looking at Nobara. "If you think you are going to have problems say so now."

Nobara silently shook her head unable to meet his eyes. "No." she said finally "I should be okay. If I get tired, I will have enough hunters around that I can feed off of to regain my strength."

"Good thinking girl." Ji-chan praised, and Mikan looked at him.

"How about you Ji-chan? Can you handle attacking the boats with me?" The old man gave her a haughty and slightly insulted look.

"Trust me girlie, I've been swimming these waters for a long time. By the time I'm done there won't be anything left afloat. Other than Nobara-chan of course." He added with a smile to the snow woman.

"But what about you Mr. Tono? Won't my ice hurt you as well?" The snow woman asked quietly and Tono gave her a charming smile.

"Aw sweetheart, you don't need to worry about me," he flirted, until Mikan sent a wave over to smack him in the back of the head.

_We are here to rescue Natsume's people, not get you killed by her mate_, Mikan growled mentally at him.

Tono gave her a hurt look and schooled his features. _'Sorry, natural reflex around beautiful women.'_

_Yeah, well knock it off._

"You don't need to worry about me because my mother was a sea dragon. Thanks to her I can tolerate cold temperatures better than other air dragons. It also helps that they are mostly weaker colored dragons to my black. So with your help I should be able to take them down. Once I pull them out of the sky, the ocean can do what it wants with them."

Convinced everyone understood what they had to do, Tono continued. "One of those boats is probably controlling the barrier but we can't possibly know which one until we attack."

"What do you mean?" Mikan asked, and her uncle gave her a look like she had asked a ridiculous question.

"Once we start attacking, the flying dragons will most likely move to try and protect wherever the barrier is coming from. So make sure to attack anything they look like they are protecting."

"Oh, right."

"Any other questions?" Tono asked and the others all remained silent. "Alright, let's go. Mikan, can I get a quick lift? I can't take off in the water." Without any more comment, Mikan transformed back into her sea dragon form and used her tail to fling Tono into the air high enough to transform and fly off. Her uncle and Ji-chan sped off towards the south east and she added a silent prayer for their safety.

Mikan turned to find the Nobara with a harsh, fierce look that was at odds with her cute, sweet features. Mikan watched for a few moments while the other woman once again sealed herself in a block of ice. This time the shape made her think of a missile more than a coffin. Grabbing the end of the rope that was secured inside the ice, she submerged them both underwater to hide their presence, and took off.

* * *

In less time than the sea dragon had expected, she started to sense the hunters' boats in the water. The waves against the boats and the sounds coming from the people on those boats sent vibrations through the water helping her to map out her targets before she could even see them clearly. Using those vibrations, she identified one of the larger boats on the western side of the island and rocketed towards it at top speed.

Just as she was about to collide head on with it, she dodged just a little to the side and let go of the rope she was holding. She heard and felt the impact as Nobara's ice did a small reenactment of the Titanic, smashing hard into the hull and piercing it.

The sound of the crash was shocking, and Mikan wondered about Nobara's assurances that she could make the ice hard enough for her to survive the collision. Not that she could do anything about it anyway because she could not spare any time to look back and make sure that she alright since she was already crashing into the boat next to it.

Mikan slammed her body with all of her might against the hull of the boat closest to the one Nobara crashed into. She felt the metal hull cave like a crushed soda can and called the ocean water to follow her will and push its way into the weak spot she had created. The small hole quickly turned into a giant hole that was filling with water faster than it normally ever would. The vessel would be completely underwater in half a minute.

Not wanting to give the hunters a chance to react, she quickly dived down and then shot back up to crash into and punch open another hull nearby.

Sounds of alarm and vibrations rang through the water. The hunters were aware of their presence now and Mikan pulled back to survey what was happening. Her sea dragon's eyes allowed her to clearly see what was happening above the surface without distortion from the water.

From where she was, she could easily spot her uncle Tono among the other dragons. Not only was he the only black dragon in the sky, he was larger than the others with the exception of a single silver dragon.

She could see that her uncle had managed to set two boats on fire before the flying dragons had converged on him. Blue, green, brown and bronze hunters were swarming around him trying to torch him at multiple angles. Tono dipped and spiraled in the air, displaying the kind of agility that was necessary to be a great thief, but the hunters proved to be no amateurs either. They had decades of practice hunting their own kind and their swimming cousins. Mikan winced when she saw a fireball hit his left wing causing his flight to wobble a bit. Thankfully, he recovered quickly before any of his opponents could take advantage.

_Wait, where is the silver?_ She wondered when she noticed it was nowhere to be seen.

From her vantage point she could see the other lesser colors continuing to attack him, but the silver had suddenly disappeared. She found the silver quickly, high above her uncle, in a hard dive, ready to attack his unprotected back.

_Tono behind you!_ She screamed at him, but she may as well have not bothered because the silver never made it to him. The bright tropical skies were suddenly taken over by an insane blizzard that knocked the silver way off course and stunned the other hunters. Tono took advantage of the situation and moved to attack the silver head on.

Having lost the advantage, the silver shot fire at him and tried to get away but her uncle was all over him. Mikan did not need to watch anymore to know who was going to win that particular fight. Like he had mentioned before, Tono did not have to fight the cold as much as the other air dragons and these hunters looked like they lost their nerve when fighting one on one.

_I guess that means Nobara is okay _she said to herself, and spotted a boat not too far away from the one the snow woman had first crashed into. It was covered in icicles and the people on it were encased in solid blocks. Yup, she looked to be just fine.

It looked like the first part of Tono's plan was working well. With the dragon hunters being systematically knocked out of the sky one by one, while Nobara had secured one of the boats just in case they needed it for injured. In the water she could feel more that see Ji-chan ripping open hulls and washing people overboard without restraint. Now it was her turn.

Having watched a bit of the battle in the air for those few moments, she was able to notice that there was one group of three boats that the flying dragons seemed to hover around more than the others. Certain that the source of the barrier had to be on one of those three, she sped off towards them.

By now she was sure they had to be tracking her so she had to decide on her first target quickly. Going by the logic that the two outer boats were probably acting as guards, she charged straight at the larger, middle boat causing it to lift right out of the water.

Up on deck, she could hear how the impact had sent the humans tumbling all over. As an added bonus, she used her tail to create a wave that washed many of them off into the unforgiving water.

Swiftly before the guard boats could retaliate, she pulled back out of attack range. _Rats, I wasn't able to break open the hull,_ she ranted to herself. Unlike the first one, this metal did not have any give in it. It must have been reinforced with something other than plain steel. She was sorely tempted to send a huge wave that would capsize all three boats, but a wave that size would most likely hit and drown the people on the island as well.

Looking down, she flexed her claws and wondered if they would be enough to tear a hole in the reinforced wall. It would be tough though. She would have to be belly side up to do it since her legs did not have the kind of reach that air dragons had. _Well there is only one way to find out._

Switching directions, she shot towards her target, gaining momentum as she went. Just as she passed under one of the flanking 'guard boats' as she called them, it dropped something into the water at her. Thinking it was an explosive or mine, she quickly dodged the compact cylinder figuring she was safe with that.

Contrary to what she thought, the metal object did not explode, but she might have been better off if it did. Instead it started emitting this horrible, piercing, high pitched wail that amplified and reverberated through the water.

_AHHHHH! Tono!_ She screamed in her head. Gods, what the hell was that? It was like fingernails on a chalkboard mixed with sound system feedback and multiplied a million times over. Was this what it felt like to be attacked by a siren? The wailing not only penetrated her brain, the water conducted the sound so it felt like it was stabbing her everywhere at once. Even her bones and teeth were rattling from the sound. The way her skull was ringing, her brain would be pudding soon.

'_Mikan hang on!'_ She heard her uncle call out to her, but she was unable to respond. Her body twitched and writhed in agony. The noise was so penetrating it sent her muscles into uncontrollable spasms that prevented her from running away. She was literally blinded with searing, stabbing pain, she could no longer tell which way was up or down much less what direction she was moving. The torturous sound continued to echo through every cell in her body and a part of her wished she would just die so she did not have to endure the pain anymore. There was not a single part of her that did not feel like it was exploding.

She was half convinced her skull was about to burst like a rotted fruit when she heard Tono scream at her _Mikan look out!_ A second later, a new burning pain bit into her side and she tasted her own blood in the water.

The pain was so unbearable it was almost impossible for her to even think, but she managed to scrape together enough logic to realize that she had just been shot while she had been thrashing about. The burning pain in her side was barely noticeable compared to the brain melting pain in the rest of her body.

It no longer mattered anymore because what little vision she had was starting to grow black around the edges. Mikan was totally powerless to stop herself from sliding into unconsciousness, and in a way she welcomed the sweet, empty oblivion.

Falling, falling, falling, falling…

Hmm…

Strange…

Shouldn't she be out cold by now?

For some strange reason no matter how much her body wanted to slip into a coma and no matter how much she welcomed it, she just could not completely get there. Somehow a frantic tugging at the back of her brain kept her in the here and now and in pain. At first she resented the annoying tugging that was keeping her buried under a mountain of agony until she recognized the source.

_Natsume._

Even if their bond was still too new for her to be able to hear him with words, she knew he was screaming for her. She knew he was somewhere, far from where she was, going completely mental with panic.

_Natsume._ Right. She had something important to do. What was it again? It was so hard to think. Her head felt like a scrambled egg. The pain. Oh gods, it was so hard to focus with the pain but she was sure she needed to for some very important reason.

With her mind, she clung tightly to the invisible tether that joined her and her beloved mate. She focused on that link until it became her only reality. She used it as a distraction from her all encompassing pain.

Drawing strength from their bond, she forced her eyes to open and to look around her.

The first thing she noticed was that in the short time she had been incapacitated, one of the hunters boats had come alarmingly close to her. So close she could see the cold determined faces of the humans on board getting nets and ropes ready to grab her. Acting more on instinct than thought, she lashed out with fore and hind claws to tear huge gaping holes along the side of the boat.

Over the mind crushing noise in the water, she could hear the yells of the humans. Most were yelling in surprise because they had thought she had already been subdued and were not expecting her to put up a fight.

_Who says I can't fight_ she thought stubbornly but her second wind was fading fast. That noise. She had to get rid of that gods' cursed thing that they had dropped in the water before she lost control of her wits again.

Straining to focus the last of her strength, she called the ocean currents to sweep away the hateful thing that was causing that torture. She ordered, demanded, begged and pleaded with the spirits of the water to drag it down to the deepest depths where the enormous weight of the ocean would crush the thing to harmless bits and sweep away the cylinder it did soon to be lost in the depths.

She felt bad for any poor unsuspecting animals that might accidentally swim past that thing while it was being swept away, but for herself, she was feeling better by the second.

Once the vile noise had left her hearing range she heaved a great sigh of relief. _Thank you Natsume, my love,_ she sent along her mate bond and flooded it with feelings of love, gratitude and relief. She did not care if she sounded like a total sap right now. Even without the words, she needed him to know just how much she loved and appreciated him for saving her life. Without him calling to her, she would have blacked out for sure and who knows what would have happened to her from there. From far away she felt his overwhelming relief and knew she had just earned herself a lecture and a bone crushing hug when he saw her next.

But she was by no means free and clear yet. She was still in the middle of a fight and her uncle was fighting like a mad man trying to destroy as many boats and dragons as he could before pulling back.

'_Mikan are you alright? Answer me!'_ He screamed in her head, and she had the impression he had been screaming like that for several minutes.

_I'm alright, I'm… ow_ she hissed and remembered they had shot her and she was bleeding from a wound on her side. She quickly asked the water to help speed up her healing and continued to explain to Tono. _They dropped some sort of sound weapon down here. It hurts like hell, but I managed to get rid of it. They also managed to shoot me while I was out of it._

'_Are you alright?'_

_I'm bleeding but I'll be fine._ She stated, and then thought of something. _How is Ji-chan? That sound probably hit him as well._

'_Not good. He was hit pretty badly and he is not exactly young either.'_

Worried, Mikan silently asked the ocean to send its help to the old sea dragon. Unfortunately, she could not spare time to go over and see him herself. She still had a several boats left to take down and who knows what kind of attack they might throw at her next. Without another thought, she charged headlong at the boat that had initially dropped that horrid sound device.

This time she did not even pause when the hull of that boat was torn apart, she just flowed right into attack the boat next to it which was the one she figured was controlling the barrier. Like she had planned before, she charged directly at it and did a quick last moment barrel roll in the water in order to drag her claws along the bottom. It was indeed tougher than the other boats, but she was still able to tear open huge holes that would send it to the ocean floor it in no time.

Not far from her, another boat had dropped something into the water again. Unlike the sound weapon which looked like nothing more than a plain metal cylinder, this one looked like a metallic hedgehog but she had already learned her lesson. Not taking any chances with this one, she used her tail to create a wave that sent the item up and out of the water, back at them.

The spiky metal thing had almost made it back over the boat railing when it went off, shooting metal spikes in all directions. Mikan was safe where she was in the water, but the hunters on the boat did not fare as well against their own weapon. Mikan flinched at the sight of one human toppling overboard dead with several spikes sticking out of him. _Eww._

The next thing to drop almost on top of her head was a frozen air dragon and Mikan let the ocean take it away without remorse.

The ease with which she allowed her enemies to die should have shocked and horrified her, but right now it was either her people that died or their people and she could not afford the luxury of morals. One day, months or even years from now she might suddenly start to bawl her eyes out in remorse for the lives she so coldly ended but today could not be that day.

Silently she moved in to rip open another boat but was surprised when it instantly went up in flames. Mikan looked up at the sky and found a black dragon that was not her uncle hovering in the air above her.

Eyes the color of amethysts regarded her coolly before flying back towards the island. Mikan was not the least bit surprised when the dragon landed and transformed itself into Hotaru. Mikan was tempted to smile at her. _I'm really beginning to like that woman's style._

With a quick glance around her, she discovered she had no more hunters left to fight. It appeared that not only did she get rid of the barrier, but those of Natsume's group that could still fight were all too willing to even the score once the barrier was down. Some were still fighting, but most were just cleaning up what was left of the hunters.

Instead of joining the others on the beach, she swam over to Ji-chan's location to check on his injuries and to help him ashore. The tides helped her carry him and in no time they were both in their human forms with her carrying him to shore, with the occupants on the island rushing out to meet them. Mikan was extremely relieved to see the dragon born doctor among the ones coming out to meet her.

The draman with the brush cut (Mikan could not remember his name. Mochi or something like that) used his ability to move things with his mind to gently pluck the old man out of her arms and carry him towards the doctor. She knew that Tono and Nobara were somewhere near to her but she did not move to speak to them. In fact she did not pause to greeting anyone; she just marched right up and spoke directly to the doctor.

"They used some sort of sound weapon to stun us and then shot at us. I managed to get the water to begin healing our wounds, but his is still bleeding badly." She told him anxiously. Whatever they had hit him with had left a deep wound that ran from the centre of his belly up and across his chest. It looked awful and blood was still flowing freely from it, but as far as Mikan could tell all of his major organs were intact. With a wound like that, the water should have been able to help him, but instead the old sea dragon's skin looked a horrible gray color and his breathing did not sound right.

The young doctor began to raise his hand to use his healing While Mikan knelt next to him. After a few moments the old sea dragon's color looked a tiny bit better and he was no longer bleeding as bad, but he was not looking good either.

Mikan looked up at Hotaru's brother and he gave her a grim look. "You said you were studying to become a nurse." He said quietly, and Mikan could feel the question in his voice. She nodded at him feeling uneasy about his topic of conversation.

The young doctor gave a brief look at his patient then gave her another serious look. "I can give him something to make him feel more comfortable, but his body has reached its limits. It has become too old and can no longer use magic to heal itself from all the damage he has taken. It is unlikely he will last to sunrise."

For a moment Mikan felt like her heart had stopped. Sunrise. That meant that Ji-chan only had a few hours left. She was sorely tempted to start crying, but crying would not get her anywhere right now. "But you have a healing gift! Surely you can help him!" She whispered harshly finding it hard to talk.

The raven haired doctor shook his head without a trace of his feelings showing on his face. "We have been fighting for hours already and there are still people who are injured who need me. I don't have a lot of power to spare on what would be a token effort at best."

A token effort. Gods, he said that so coldly. Like Ji-chan was already dead. Now instead of crying, Mikan felt like punching the doctor out, but she knew she could not.

Now his question about her becoming a nurse made sense. He wanted her to see him as a fellow person who was dedicated to the health and care of others. He wanted her to understand and realize that as much as he wanted to save everyone there were always limits and times when someone could not be saved. He wanted to call upon her understanding as a future nurse that this was one of those times.

Well he could just go to hell.

Mikan opened her mouth, ready to tell him just what she thought about him and his 'token effort' but she was distracted when a frail wrinkled hand reached up and took a hold of hers and stopped her. "Don't be wasting your time kid. It is already too late." The old man whispered in a thin voice.

"Ji-chan, this man is a dragon born doctor with a gift for healing. He can help you." She explained urgently to him. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Nobara drop down on the other side of his legs and heard her offer her own encouragements.

"I'm already dying. It'd be a waste of his and my time to try and stop it now." The old man said with a smile.

"No Ji-chan!" Nobara choked and Mikan felt tears stinging the backs of her eyes.

_You can't leave me yet, I have so many things I want to ask you._ Mikan thought to herself but knew it would be incredibly selfish of her to say such a thing right now. It was all so unfair, she had only just met him. He could not possibly be leaving her yet.

The old man took hold of the snow woman's hand with his free hand and gave them both weak smiles filled with pride. Nobara had started to cry in earnest now and Mikan's throat was closing too tight for her to speak.

The old man gave them both a kind smile. "Hey, shhhh, don't be like that. I knew I was getting close to my time and that this might be a one way trip but it was worth it. Saving these people, these kids, was worth it." He assured them gently.

"I don't want you to go. I just got to meet you." Mikan managed to croak out in a harsh whisper. Next to her, Nobara continued to sob quietly.

Old man Inari gave her a kind smile "I'm sorry that I have to leave so soon, but it seems my time has come. I am so happy to have waited long enough to see a sea dragon return to Japan's waters." He said quietly.

Once he said that, Mikan was unable to stop the sob that escaped her own throat. It was quite common for elderly or sick dragons to be able to feel their own impending death. If Ji-chan said he could feel it, then Mikan knew there was nothing any of them could do to stop it from happening. He was dying and Mikan could not help but blame herself. She knew how old and frail he was, surely she could have done something to keep him from trying to fight.

Somewhere in the middle of all of that Youichi had approached her with Mr. Bear in tow. The boy tapped on her shoulder to catch her attentions. "Mikan-nee? Did you want Mr. Bear back?" he asked with a somber look on his face. There was seriousness and a maturity that did not fit on a face as young as his. Kids like him should not have to see the things he has probably seen.

Instead of answering him, Mikan pulled him into her lap and hugged both Youichi and Bear tightly. "I want you to meet someone." She told him, forcing the sound past the lump in her throat. "This is Ji-chan or some people also call him Inari. He came to help me get you. Ji-Chan, this is Youichi and Mr. Bear."

Youichi gave the old man a serious look "Hello Ji-chan-Inari thank you for coming." He said seriously causing the old man to give him a weak, but clearly happy smile.

"I was glad to be here son." He said truthfully, still smiling. At that point Mikan felt a hand on her shoulder and knew it to belong to her uncle.

"Mikan, I know you don't want to hear this right now, but we have a few things we need to take care of."

Ji-chan gave her as stern a look as he could in his condition. "The boy is right, you need to go save that mate of yours." He grumbled harshly. "Don't worry, Nobara-chan and I will be just fine here for a while.

Mikan shut her eyes tight. He was right. Ji-chan, Tono, Dr. Imai they were all right, but that did not make it feel right. Natsume. She needed to somehow make sure Natsume was okay.

With her eyes still tightly clenched, she locked the part of herself that wanted to selfishly stay close to Ji-chan away. Firming her resolve, she gave Ji-chan a kiss on his cheek and left him with Nobara and Youichi. As she was leaving, she was pleased to see a few others walk up to him and introduce themselves. The old sea dragon would probably like having a bunch of dragons close during his last hours.

Following where Tono guided her, she ended up with Misaki, and Sumire, both of whom looked pretty beaten up. Lying in front of Misaki was a still unconscious Tsubasa and the woman's face was etched with worry over her new mate. A feeling Mikan could understand all too easily.

"We should get him into the water," Tono said and Misaki gave him a few blinks of incomprehension before she realized who it was that was standing next to her. It was obvious she was too worn out with fatigue and worry to even think straight. Another feeling Mikan was beginning to understand all too easily.

Actually, it was probably better to get them all into the water since all three sea dragons looked bad. Tono gently picked up his younger brother and carried him into the shallows while Misaki hovered about nervously. Once in the water though, the effect was almost immediate. Misaki let out a heartfelt sigh and seemed to come back to her senses quickly. Almost immediately the woman started cursing Tsubasa for his recklessness while simultaneously issuing all kinds of ridiculous threats to Tono if he dropped her mate.

Mikan chose to leave the healing of Tsubasa to his mate and tried to coax Sumire towards the water as well. The only problem with that was that she was glued to one of Natsume's air dragons.

Sumire was holding the guy's head on her lap concealing part of his face from Mikan, but she could tell he had caught the bad end a fire attack from one of the hunters. Most of his burns were superficial but she could see he had some serious second degree burns and a vicious cut along his scalp. Both of which would need to be treated.

As she moved up close, and was almost up into her cousin's face, Mikan noticed that Sumire's lips were moving. The sound was so low that it almost did not carry past her lips but after several seconds Mikan was able to make out what she was almost saying under her breath: "stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid," over and over again.

"Hey Sumire?" she asked with false cheer. "Maybe we can take him out to the water? You might be able to help him." The water might not work so well on an air dragon, but even a little help was better than no help. She would have to swim over to the boat Nobara had taken over or one of the sunken ones. Surely there had to be a first aid kit in one of them.

Like Misaki, Sumire gave Mikan a few clueless blinks before returning to reality. "Mikan? Mikan you're here!" she looked like she wanted to jump up and hug Mikan but she was reluctant to let go of her precious burden either. She looked down at him and then back up at Mikan. "He's hurt." She finished simply.

Mikan gave her a look of understanding. "How about we try and ask the water to help him?" she suggested. Her cousin could not find any fault with her suggestion and nodded, allowing Mikan to help pick him up and support him with an arm around her shoulders.

* * *

Getting everyone healed enough to travel spent the bulk of the remaining daylight. Mikan had kept herself busy helping the deeply tired and those with minor injuries, saving the more serious injuries for Subaru Imai. At one point the doctor looked like he was about to pass out and his mate Sakurano dragged him over to her to ask for the ocean's help.

She was so busy that she had almost managed to successfully distract herself from the knowledge that Natsume had begun his own fighting. Almost being the key word there.

Sunset was less than an hour away and by now the bedraggled group looked a little better and they had now been informed of the true nature of the dragon king's power.

Many were terrified to learn that Natsume's grandfather had multiple versions of himself. As far as everyone was concerned, one was more than enough. However, like Inari's group, what really frightened them was knowing they had one of his copies with them.

As per Natsume's instructions, Goshima had been kept heavily drugged and out of it for most of the day. During her explanation about the clones, Mikan had walked over to him and had nullified the illusion that was keeping him disguised as a young boy. The demonstration had served to convince the others better than anything else.

The person that called himself Goshima was identical to the one that she had seen disguised as Luna, but as some had noted, he looked very little like the current king. Mikan had explained about Narumi's theory that even the king's appearance was a disguise to keep his agelessness a secret and the others speculated that if they went far enough back, there was probably a time when the king had used his own face, but it was probably long ago.

As dusk crept closer and Mikan knew that her mate had already begun fighting, she started feeling more and more anxious. By now it was all she could do just to sit still. She needed to do something soon, or she would go completely crazy with worry. In desperation to do something to help him, she came up with the idea of questioning the clone.

"We need to find out what he knows." She stated, trying to convince the group sitting around her.

Currently, Tono, Tsubasa, Miskai, Sumire, Koko, both Imais and their mates were sitting in the sand in a rough circle. The notable absence was Luka who had, not surprisingly to anyone, slipped off to return to the estate shortly after they had stopped for their second break. According to everyone else, it was pretty obvious that Luka was unwilling to be apart from Aoi, so when he suddenly disappeared, no one was worried. Once they were attacked though, they had all begun to worry but they had no way of confirming if he was okay or not. The only thing they could do was hope he was safe.

Right now though, their concern was focused on Mikan's urging to question the clone. Not one of them was eager to wake the clone up.

"Mikan," Tsubasa began gently, "if this is one of the kings clones, talking to him might just kill him like the other one."

"I know that! But I have a feeling that we should talk to him." She snapped, and jumped to her feet to pace nervously. "He might know where the other clones are or how close they are to Japan."

"There is no way he is going to tell us that. A question like that would get the clone killed for sure." He continued to explain, but Koko interrupted him.

"Actually, if that is all you want to know, we might be able to get the information."

Mikan raised her eyebrows at him. "Huh?" Sumire gave Koko a look that was bursting with great secret while the rest of Natsume's group all started nodding in understanding leaving Mikan and the rest in the dark.

"Koko can read minds." Hotaru explained, spoiling Sumire's fun moment of knowing something her family did not.

The others were still leery, but they eventually agreed that knowing where the clones were was worth the risk. They also all knew but did not talk about the fact that this one question was all they were probably going to get answered because the clone would be dead afterwards. Koko was going to have to get into his head quickly and get what they needed before the clone died.

Hotaru quickly rigged up restraints using the materials found on the hunter's boat and then her brother used his healing to help the clone purge the effects of the drug in his system. In almost no time the clone's eyelids started to flutter open. The first person he saw was Tsubasa so that might have been the reason he tried to keep up the illusion that he was still a boy.

"Mr. Tsubasa?" he asked with a puzzled tone and then realized the sound of his voice was off. He looked confused for a moment and at that point, Mikan walked into his line of sight with a disgusted look on her face. Who the hell did he think he was still trying to fool? By the time she was finished, the whole mystical world would know the truth about him.

The moment he saw Mikan, the clone gave up his ruse. The clone's face instantly twisted into a condescending smirk. "Oh-ho? Did your mate leave you all by yourself? How sad, is the honeymoon already over?"

Mikan clenched her teeth in irritation. She did not want to get into a battle of words with this man. The first reason was because he was a galactic sized creep and talking to him made her skin crawl. The second reason, though she was loathe to admit it, was because she knew that she was not very clever when it came to situations like these, and this man had a few hundred years experience on her.

"I want to know where the clones are and what they are doing." She stated flatly.

"Oooo such a scary face." He said mockingly then gave her a smile that made her blood go cold. "Now why on earth would I tell you that?"

As much as she wanted to look over at Koko who had stayed out of the Goshima's line of sight, she resisted. _Alright Mikan, just like Tono said. The longer he pays attention to you, the better chance Koko has of finding out what we want to know. And whatever you do, don't look at anyone else but him, s_he reminded herself. The moment she looked at Koko, the clone would realize he was not alone and he would be dead.

Standing up straighter, she gave him a look that she hoped he interpreted as haughty even though she did not feel it. "Fine then, tell me where the king is and what he is doing right now." She ordered, stalling for time. She must not have been very convincing, because his eyes narrowed at her in suspicion and then suddenly widened.

He had time to make a gasping breath before he slumped forward in the chair, dead.

Crap. Someone please tell her they got the information before he died.

Looking over at Koko, she knew the question was written all over her face. He on the other hand, looked like he was having a panic attack.

"What? You couldn't get it?" she asked alarmed.

"No, it's worse." He whispered and by now he had everyone's full attention. "I got where the clones are, but I also know where the king is. And he is not where Natsume thinks he is."

tbc

* * *

Someone call the police I want to report the theft of the month of September. I took my eyes off it for a moment, and poof, it was gone.

Someone has stolen my September and I want it back.

Did anyone else lose their September?

Well until someone returns my missing September to me I guess I'll just have to make do with October. Yuck.

So recently I've been getting questions about families so I thought I might use this time to clear up a few things:

Mr. Yukihara & Mrs. Yukihara

Gold air dragon & Sea dragon

(Mikan's grandparents)

V

V

Kazu Yukihara, Kazu's twin sister, Izumi Yukihara, 3 unnamed boys and 4 unnamed girls, Akira (Tono) Yukihara, Tsubasa Yukihara

Yes you counted right, the Yukihara's have 12 children of both air and sea dragons. With the exception of Tsubasa, generally the girls were sea dragons and the boys were air dragons. Kazu Yukihara's twin sister is Sumire's mother, and of course, Izumi is Mikan's father. Tono and Tsubasa are the youngest of the bunch which is why their nieces are so close in age to them.

Natsume's family tree is a little difficult to draw out in this format, so I'll summarize it this way:

Karou Hyuuga + Unnamed gold dragon

V

Natsume

Human woman + Unnamed gold dragon

V

Luka

Karou Hyuuga & Kaito Hyuuga

V

Aoi,

Natsume (adopted by Kaito)

Natsume will never refer to the gold that sired him as his father. Given that the man practically raped his mother, he will not even lower himself to call the man by his given name for he was not worthy of a name. As far as Natsume is concerned, his only 'father' was Kaito Hyuuga who raised and loved him as his own son. Natsume carries the name of Hyuuga proudly out of respect for the man who raised him. It also annoys the hell out of his grandfather that he refuses to use the name Kuonji.

So does that help anyone who was lost?


	30. Chapter 30

**A Dragon's Heart** – Chapter 30

"Get the hell off of me before I cremate you." Natsume growled at the man above him. His panic over Mikan being attacked had allowed Narumi to take him down with humiliating ease. At the moment he was flat on his back and Narumi had one knee that was pressing hard into his chest while the other knee was poised over his neck. If the incubus just shuffled his weight ever so slightly, he would be crushing Natsume's throat.

Giving him a thoroughly disgusted look, Narumi shifted back a little from his throat but still kept him pinned to the ground.

"Are you going to be able to control yourself?" the incubus asked bluntly with nasty glare. Clearly he was not happy with younger man's unexpected outburst for which Natsume at least had the grace to be embarrassed about. Currently they were hiding in a cluster of trees and large rocks just outside of the estate, but if they had been any closer, Natsume would have given away their location and this whole operation would have gone to waste.

The young red dragon had obviously never intended to create such a ruckus, but when he had felt Mikan in pain he reacted instinctively. This is to say that he completely flipped out.

Even though hundreds of kilometers separated them, he could still hear Mikan screams echoing inside his head and it was all Narumi, Serio and Shizune could do to stop him from transforming and flying off after her. _I really should have been prepared for it. I wanted the mate-bond and I knew what it meant._

He could clearly recall how his stepfather had suffered after his mother had passed away. Natsume and his sister were still fairly young when she had died and his dad had forced himself to hold off on joining his beloved mate in the forever plains for a few years solely for the children's sakes. Everyone could see that every day without his mother was a strain for his father, so he should have known and resisted Mikan's bond until after they were all safe.

_Yeah right. As if I could have stopped myself from becoming her mate just because it was inconvenient timing._ He would just have to focus more somehow to get through this.

Narumi gave him a concerned look, "She is alright now though?" he asked, and Natsume nodded and looked at his uncle.

Serio gave him his own nod of confirmation while his eyes still had a distant look. Unlike Natsume, his mating had developed to a point where they had a weak telepathy. "Nobara says she appears to be okay although it sounds like Ji-chan might be in serious trouble."

"Maybe we should call this off until the others are okay." Narumi repeated, and Natsume shook his head.

"We can't afford to delay because I'm sure the king has already called back whatever clones of his that might be around the globe. Now that I know she is okay, I'll try to ease up on our connection so I won't be caught off guard again."

Serio shook his head at him. "Are you sure you can? I remember what it was like when my bond was new. It is almost impossible to not think about it or her which is pretty much what you are going to have to do."

Natsume had already figured that much out by himself but he did not have much of a choice and he said as much. He shook his head at the others "No. Something tells me that if we don't do this now, we will never get another chance." He was not certain how he knew that, but he was sure of it. "Now back to what we were discussing. Get off me and we-" Natsume's words were cut off as a flock of birds dove out of the sky and began attacking his uncle's head.

* * *

It was no surprise to anyone when Luka left the evacuation group quickly and quietly in the small hours of the morning. If they noticed him leaving, no one had felt the need to call him back. It didn't matter anyway, his first priority at the time was meeting up with his brother again.

No scratch that.

His first priority was Aoi, but since he knew he did not have a hope in hell of rescuing her without Natsume, he followed the faint link between them. He continued to follow the link the rest of the night and into the morning, resting only briefly when his wings would no longer hold him. Their bond led him all the way to a point that was almost back at the estate.

At one point during his rest stops, he was rather surprised to feel that his brother was moving closer to him as well. He made several attempts to call out to Natsume's mind, but he lacked the kind of power his brother had. Unless Natsume was listening for him, there was no way he would have heard him at their distance so he kept moving forward.

The very last thing he had expected when he had finally found his brother was the scene that he had walked in on.

Luka had known Natsume was close and had tried to call out to him a few times, but he received no indication that his brother had even heard him. In fact, it felt like his brother was in some sort of distress or panic and could not answer back. Naturally worried that his brother had been found by one of the king's patrols, he rushed to his side only to find him being pinned to the ground by two men while a woman looked on.

One man he almost mistook as another woman and the other… was Persona.

At that point his thought processes came to a screeching halt leaving only the sight of the last person he had seen his beloved mate with. The face of the man who had stolen Aoi from him was now attacking his brother.

Without thinking, Luka instantly called any animal in the area to attack and a group of ravens answered his call. The man he thought was Persona had only a moment to cry out in surprise before he was forced to use his forearms to protect his head and face. No matter what he did though, the birds continued to peck and jab at him relentlessly with beaks and claws in a flurry of black feathers. If Luka had been in his right mind at the moment he probably would have noticed the stunned looks on the other three people standing nearby but he was blind everything but Persona. Even the brother he was supposedly saving from these attackers.

The usually passive Luka was little more than a blond blur that darted in and slammed Persona painfully into the ground. His normally gentle blue eyes looked feral and his lips were pulled tightly back to expose snarling teeth.

"Where is she?" Luka rasped, gripping the collar of Persona's shirt.

"Luka, stop! That's not Persona!" Natsume called, but Luka was now deaf to him. In some recess of his mind, he had probably rationed out that his brother was safe because all he saw was the man who had taken his mate from him.

Frustrated that his prey wasn't spitting out where his love was hidden, he picked the man up by his collar and then slammed him hard into the ground again. "Where is she!" he demanded again.

"Luka, stop!" Natsume tried again, and again Luka ignored his presence. Instead he picked his captive up by the collar. This time however, instead of knocking his head against the ground again, he swiftly moved around his prisoner until he had him in a vicious headlock. Years of training with Natsume were not for nothing. He knew very well how to take down a dangerous opponent.

He failed to notice however, that his opponent was not fighting back. At most, a little of the rot alice was leaking out of the man in self defense, but nothing more.

From the draman's perspective, it was like an out of body experience. He could hear his brother yelling at him and he could see the black smoke rising from the man in his grip but it was like they were too far removed from him, as if they were no more real than images on a movie screen.

What was real were the several snakes slithering out of the bushes. The animals slid up between Natsume and the other two with him, ignoring them completely as if they were no more aware of their existence than Luka was. Like Luka, their attention was focused solely on Persona. The group of serpents fanned out to form a reptilian wall between their collective prey and the others. The snakes gave the black dragon varying dead looks and a few opened their mouths to display wicked looking fangs.

"I suggest you give me what I want or my friends here will not be happy." Luka hissed in a low tone "Now, _where is my mate you son of a bitch!"_

'_Luka! Luka!' _He almost heard Natsume call out, but it was still too far distant from him. He thought he might have heard something like_ 'I'm sorry I have to do this.'_ But it was forgotten quickly when a wall of fire appeared between the snakes and Persona. At the same time his brother plowed into him, knocking him into the dirt. Unlike the vicious way Luka tackled Persona, Natsume tried his best to shield his brother from hitting the ground too hard.

Luka hit the ground and the impact seemed to jog his attention away from his target. "Natsume?" he blinked, feeling a little stunned at suddenly being back in his body and… ohhh… how much it hurt. Both from Natsume's tackle and from the faint marks caused by the rot alice. Wait, why did Natsume just attack him? He just saved him, didn't he?

Didn't he?

His exhausted, beaten mind felt like it was trying to pull itself free of a mud bog.

"Luka, it's me." His brother said firmly, using both his voice and his mind. "You've got to stop what you are doing. That is not Persona." Luka did not answer him right away. Instead he looked around and tried to take in his surroundings. Then he looked back at Persona and felt rage swell in him again. "This is not him. I swear." Natsume reassured. '_It's no wonder you are confused, it has been a very long, very rough few days on you and you never did get the dragon stamina. You are probably running on fumes now.'_ His brother added kindly in his head.

Gods, the last few days were all blurred together. Natsume was right. In some ways he was more human than dragon and the stress of the last thirty hours or so had taken its toll.

Slowly, little bits of reality came drifting back to his mind and he almost crumbled in on himself. All too soon he was able to remember all of the information that his brother had dumped into his head the last time they spoke. There had been so much information and it had been so fast that it had almost made his eyes bleed. With all of his focus on getting to Natsume and getting Aoi back, it was understandable that he had forgotten little details like a second Persona.

Serio. This man on the ground was Serio, Natsume's real uncle. The one called Persona was a fake. A clone of the king. There were other tidbits like Mikan's other alice and meeting Narumi the creepy incubus for example.

"I need her back Natsume." He stated in a half-sob, not caring at all at what it did to his pride. "I feel so empty without her."

Natsume put his hands on Luka's shoulders "I know you do. We _will_ get her back." Luka gave him a look and nodded. By now the others had decided it was safe to approach and rather surprisingly, Serio spoke first.

"You're the little draman from Europe aren't you? France, I think it was. I remember you and Natsume used to be attached at the hip when you were little." He said, trying to sound harmless.

Luka could not stop the disappointed look "You really aren't him are you?" when nobody said anything he continued. "I'm sorry I attacked you. I just reacted without thinking. Sorry."

The man who still looked too much like Persona for Luka's comfort nodded in understanding. Actually If Luka needed any proof that it was not Persona, the reality that Luka was still alive would be it. Serio's rot alice had only attacked him in self-defense, holding himself back and only hurt him a little. If it were the real Persona (what an oxymoron that was) then he would have been dead.

Brushing himself off he redirected his focus back to where it was to begin with, getting Aoi. "Well then, if I understand correctly about what is going on we have three objectives. Aoi, the stones, and the king, so it is probably better if we split up. I can take these two," he said, indicating to Narumi and Shizune "to look for Aoi and hopefully those stones you are looking for, while you and your uncle look for the king. If we are lucky, we might even be able to provide each other with a distraction when we need it."

"That sounds great, but where are we going to look? There are a lot of places on the estate Aoi could be, and I can't picture the old bastard just leaving those stones in the regular family vault where anyone could find them." Narumi finally spoke for the first time.

Luka gave a weak smile. "Actually, I may have an answer for you."

When he had first lost contact with Aoi, he had panicked. Luka had sent every animal on the estate out in search of her. All of them had come back empty handed, but some of the animals had hinted that there was a spot on the estate that they could not get to. After a quick check with Hotaru and her new bug cameras he was able to confirm that there was a small storehouse near the king's residence that they could not approach without getting destroyed.

Two hours later, and he was trying to get two complete strangers and himself into a heavily guarded compound. Hopefully without being noticed before he could find his mate.

Gods he missed her so much. He could not remember a time where Aoi was not in his life. From his earliest memories she had always been there. She was always the light and centre of his life and he loved her with everything he had. If anything happened to her he knew he would never survive it. She was everything to him.

Fire and air, Natsume was so right about everything. Luka should have just grabbed her and ran away way back when they had first realized their feelings for one another. Gods knew that he and Aoi had talked about it often enough in the few stolen moments they had together. If he had just been brave enough to take what was his, she would still be beside him right now and he would not be suffering like he was.

If there was ever anything that could be called 'good' coming out of this experience, it was that he was done regretting and lamenting that he was born to a different social class than her. Natsume was right. Their king and clan were not worth the suffering they had endured. Luka's loyalty was to Aoi and Natsume. Everyone else could just rot in hell.

Oh gods he felt so empty without her. She was so close and yet he was quite certain that if he tried calling to her in his head right now all he would hear was a vast hollow echo over and over again in his head. And then he would lose his mind, which was why he kept all of his focus on the next immediate task at hand. If he thought too much about her absence he would never make it. He would probably just stand there screaming in despair until he dropped. Or worse, he would make a suicide attempt at the king himself.

_Easy Luka, don't think about it. Only think of one thing at a time. Aoi is there, all we need to do is get in._

Luka crouched low and dashed almost silently to another out cropping of rocks and bushes. The king's residence stood higher and slightly apart from the rest of the estate buildings. The storehouse in question sat lower and off to the side from his home.

Normally the position of his residence was to symbolize his superior position over the lower member of the clan. The great lord in his castle high above the lowly peasants, as it were. Right now that arrogant attitude worked in their benefit. Thanks to the isolated position, and the guards busily preparing for Natsume's impending attack, they had successfully skirted the outside edge of the estate and managed to get within twenty meters of the storehouse.

But this is where things started to get difficult. The storehouse might in sight now, but he was currently hiding behind the last bit of cover to hide behind. There was pretty much nothing but grass, flowers and open ground between his hiding spot and the storehouse. He and the pair with him would be in plain view with nowhere to hide.

He looked again at the pair not too far from him and used crude hand signals to tell them to wait where they were while the animals he had summoned to help did a quick sweep of the area for guards. The animals would tell him if there was anyone in the vicinity, but that would not help them with modern surveillance systems. Hotaru had guaranteed him that the king and his men could not hack into her system, but the king still had his own and that was where his companions came in.

The incubus, Narumi had assured him that he could handle any guards that came their way with his ability as long as they were not in dragon form. The siren woman Suzune made a similar claim there was not a wall or electronic circuit that could hold up to her sonics for long. He just had to make sure to tell the animals to flee at top speed when she needed to use her sound.

Being this close to Aoi had started to make him more edgy so the wait until his animal scouts returned was almost intolerable. Eventually they returned to inform them that there were four guards on the storehouse and another four stationed close enough to be of concern. One of the estate's dogs had even tried to dig a hole along the storehouse sidewall, but only succeeded in hurting himself when he hit an invisible wall.

Armed with new this piece of information he dashed back over to Narumi and Shizune.

"There are four guards stationed around the storehouse. They would be fairly easy to take care of, but the whole place is surrounded by a barrier." He whispered tightly.

"Are the guards inside or outside of the barrier?" Narumi asked just as quietly.

"The two at the door appear to be inside, but the other two are walking a perimeter around the building. We have to silence them while avoiding the patrol of the other four that are nearby."

A cold shadow flickered thorough Narumi's lovely eyes. "Leave them to me." He announced, and before either Luka or Shizune could object, he crept out to Luka's former hiding place. Narumi spotted the cameras around him and turned to Shizune to give her a nod.

"What the hell is he doing?" Luka hissed.

"Getting caught obviously. If you like your animal friends now would be the time to tell them to leave." The normally silent Shizune replied and opened her mouth to make a noise to deal with the cameras. Luka himself could not hear anything even with his dragon enhanced hearing, but he saw a rabbit fleeing and heard a bird screech in agitation to the sub-sonic sound. He could only pray it was actually doing what it was supposed to and that there was no one from the king's guards that could detect sound at that level either.

His bigger worry right now was Narumi. What did she mean he was getting caught? Was he trying to get them all killed? Then he recalled that Narumi was an incubus that seemed to appeal to both genders. He had never actually seen the man's seductive power in action, but if it could get them past that barrier, he'd be willing to give it a chance.

Barely breathing, he watched Narumi wait in his hiding spot. Each time he saw a guard come into view he felt his pulse and his adrenaline leap, but Narumi was clearly a seasoned fighter because he continued to wait patiently until they had the guards' timing down. Normally, Luka would have been impressed with the incubus' skill but right now with Aoi so close and the afternoon advancing, he was almost tearing his hair out by the roots in frustration. When Narumi finally made a move his nerves were almost completely shot.

Narumi waited until the man that Luka was now calling in his head 'guard number two' came back into view for the third time. The man scanned the area (at which point they all had to duck from view again) and then just at the point where the guard had turned back, Narumi shuffled ever so slightly again. Normally the slight sound of earth, gravel and grass rubbing against one another was an almost inaudible sound but to Luka, it was loud enough to be a thunder crack and he winced at the sound pollution.

Apparently it was loud enough to catch guard's attention as well. The guard angled his body and aimed the automatic rifle he was carrying directly at the sound.

"I've got another possible movement over here." Luka overheard the guard call out to the others.

"Probably another stupid rodent or dog." Was the faint reply from the other side of the building. "We should just torch the whole area and kill them all. I'm so sick of them popping out everywhere."

Luka let out a silent thanks to all of his animal friends for their help. Apparently their constant attempts to try to get into the storehouse had the added bonus of reducing how alert the guards were. The gods were certainly smiling on them.

Grumbling and looking highly put out, the guard trudged across the open ground directly towards Narumi's hiding spot. Weapon at the ready, the guard appeared to remember the possibility of a real threat at the last moment. So instead of charging in blindly, he paused and took a ready stance on his side of the rocks. By now he was virtually back to back with Narumi and Luka's body was thrumming with tension.

_Natsume, we are about to start._ He called mentally in silent warning, and kept the link open incase this all went very bad very quickly.

The guard took a last quick scan of his position to confirm that everything was clear in his line of vision before he spun in a pivot with his rifle aimed directly at the incubus' head. Luka sucked in his breath and held it, fully expecting to have to charge in by force, but knew he would never make it before Narumi's brains met the outside air. His muscles tensed, ready to spring…

…

And… nothing…

The guard did not even utter a sound.

Luka watched in amazement as the guard not only lowered his rifle, he dropped to his knees, grabbed Narumi, and proceeded to kiss the incubus heatedly. Luka suppressed a shudder remembering a time not too many years ago when a couple of the older dragons deep in dragon-lust had tried to do something similar to him. He had managed to kick their asses, but the memory still haunted him.

In this instance though, Narumi did not appear to be bothered in the least by the kiss. In fact, it proved to be the lusty guard's fatal mistake. Incubi and Sucubi were psychic vampires that fed off the lives of their unsuspecting lovers. All the kiss did was give Narumi a way to suck all of his life out.

Within seconds he was on the ground, barely clinging to life, and the incubus wasted no time pulling out a wicked looking dagger and drove it into the dragon born guard's throat. Dragon though he may be, with his power already drained, the guard died instantly. With Aoi's safety at stake, Luka did not regret his loss.

Without saying anything Narumi quickly searched him.

'What are you looking for?' he mouthed silently, aware there were still three more guards to deal with in hearing range.

'Something for the barrier.'

Right. They would need some kind of key or pass or something. Luka shuffled over to help while Shizune kept her hiding spot, watching.

A quick search of his clothes and the contents of his pockets revealed nothing that would get them past the barrier. All the items on his person appeared to be ordinary. Knife, radio, gauze, pen, penlight; there was nothing that appeared magical or useful.

'Maybe only the guards inside the barrier have one.' The draman whispered under his breath.

'Then I need to be closer.' Narumi added and they stripped the corpse of his clothes and tactical gear. Naru was lucky it was all black, because as it hid bloodstains well.

He managed to get into the shirt and pants on and was trying to put the boots on when another guard approached. Without another thought, Naru crammed the helmet on, dropped the eye-shield and jumped to his socked feet. Behind the rock, Luka tried his best to hide himself and the dead body.

"Himura! What the hell are you doing?" the other guard yelled.

Narumi seemed to falter for a moment until he dropped the pitch of voice. "Uh… I stepped in shit." He announced and Luka's eyebrows shot up.

The other guard started laughing "Dumbass, get back to your position!"

From his vantage point hidden behind the rock, Luka could not see anything, and he had almost thought they were home free until he saw Narumi tense up and he heard the new guard moving towards them. Straining his hearing, Luka heard the guard make a small sound at almost the exact time that the incubus raised his eye-sheild.

"Who are you?"

The question did not come out as a barked order as it should have. Instead it sounded kind of dreamy and Luka could tell Narumi's power was in full effect. After a few seconds of rustling movement, Luka hazarded a peek only to see this guard fall into the same trap as his friend.

Weapon totally forgotten, this guard had both hands firmly gripping Narumi's ass and trying to suck off his face.

He was dead a minute later.

The pair of them finished getting into disguise and approached the storehouse door with Luka in front of Naru.

"What are you two doing here? Get back to your positions." One of the guards inside the barrier snapped at them.

Narumi pushed an unarmed Luka forward with his rifle. They had worked out this plan in less than a minute and all they could do was hope it would draw one of them out of the barrier long enough to capture them.

"He killed Himura and took his clothes." Narumi announced in his lower pitched voice.

That got both guards' attention, but both stayed cautiously within the barrier. This whole effort would be for nothing if they could not get at least one of them to come out. Weapons and magical abilities were useless if they could not breach the barrier. The one on the right radioed for reinforcements while the one on the left kept his eyes and weapon trained on the intruder.

_Come out damn you! One of you come out!_ He screamed in his head willing one of them to move but both kept their feet planted.

_Dammit, dammit! Natsume, we might need a distraction soon!_ He called, but just then Narumi reached over to snatch off Luka's helmet. Both guards looked at him with surprise when they realized who it was they were looking at.

"We-ell, look at this," the one on the left started laughing; "it's the little draman runt."

"Yeah the one that keeps forgetting his place."

"Oh this might be fun." Mr. Left guard sneered, and much to Luka's joy, he started to swagger towards the barrier's edge. Naru, in turn, pushed him close enough that he could feel the barrier pushing against the toes of his boots.

_Come on, just a little closer._ He willed.

"Yuu." Mr. Left guard was almost in reach when the right one called out in warning causing him to turn back.

"Don't worry I'm fine." He called out, assuring Mr. Right side that he would not move any closer. Luka almost screamed with frustration. They were so close! They just needed one of them to breach the barrier! Just a tiny bit!

It was then that Mr. Left turned back to him and Luka spotted a possible opening. "So kid, where is that snot-nosed brat hiding?" It wasn't hard to guess who the guard was talking about. His brother was not particularly popular among the king's men.

"Natsume is around somewhere." He assured the guard, then quickly snatched the rifle barrel that the guard had so carelessly allowed to breach the barrier when he had turned around.

Once they were connected, whatever key, pass or spell that allowed the guards to pass through the barrier freely was now extended to Luka.

He yanked hard on the barrel while surging forward to knee the guard in the groin. While the guard was momentarily stunned, he grabbed his head and twisted hard until he heard and felt a rather distinct crunch.

Narumi quickly grabbed on to him to pass through the barrier as well, quickly dispatching the last guard. They signaled Shizune who continued to use her sound on the surveillance systems. By now the guards had already notified others of their whereabouts, so interfering with camera reception was pointless.

"Well we're in, but they have already called for reinforcements." Naru warned, and they could even hear the sound of several sets of booted feet coming towards them. Almost on cue, three enormous explosions occurred at different points on the estate away from them.

"That would be Natsume with our distraction." Luka announced with some relief "Besides, we should be safe in the barrier for now." He then looked to the door of the storehouse. The lock looked required a palm scan so they hauled the bodies over to try it. Nothing happened.

Not surprising, there would be no way the dragon king would let anyone but himself have access to his secret treasure. Most likely only the king and his clones could access it.

"Shizune, do you think you can get us in?"

Again Shizune opened her mouth and let out a sound that was beyond his hearing range but in minutes the frame around the door began to crack. When that happened, Luka used all of his strength to give the door a solid yank. For a second, nothing happed, then both the door with the frame started to wobble slowly and the three of them had to scramble to get out of the way as it fell towards them. As much as it looked like a normal door, it was actually almost a foot thick and when it fell over, it made a rather nasty sound as it crushed the corpses of the guards.

Shizune looked at the door and then the frame. "A door is only as good as the wall it is in. Why bother reinforcing the door while the building is still ordinary stone?"

"The building has been here for over a hundred years. The king probably thought it would look too conspicuous if he suddenly built a brand new vault and he wants to keep this place as secret as possible. As it is he probably killed whoever installed the door to keep even the upgrade a secret." Luka reasoned, and entered the hall and down the stairs at the end.

By now the tension in him that he had managed to keep controlled while they got this far, was starting to leak out. He was so close now. He could feel it. Aoi was almost back in his arms and it was all he could do to keep his sanity together for this last little bit.

_Aoi baby, I'm coming._ He silently promised the love of his life. Down another flight of stairs, turn another corner, down another corridor. After the first wooden set of stairs, the walls and floor switched from separate parts to solid stone and he realized that he was actually in a tunnel under the estate's foundation. His whole life living here and he had no idea this passageway existed.

_Of course that is what Kuonji wants_ he reminded himself. The place was like an underground maze with its many twists and turns and stairs that kept going down. The further down it went, the darker it got.

And the colder.

"Is it just me, or did it get really cold in here?" Narumi asked.

Luka had been noticing that as well and tried to light a fireball to brighten their way, but found it very hard to keep the fire going. By the next set of stairs the chill was cold enough that they could see their breath in the air, and his fire was flickering badly. "Damn. That is his real security." he muttered to himself.

"What?" Narumi asked behind him.

Luka gave him a glance wondering whether it was safe to reveal this secret part of dragon lore to non-dragons. Then again he had already decided that he owed the clan and other dragons nothing.

"The cold. It's the cold and the dark. Dragons need the warmth of the sun to fuel their fire. Without it, we become much weaker and can even die."

He tried to control his alarm. Aoi had to be alive. She just had to. Something deep down in his soul told him she was still alive. He was sure he would have felt her passing. He was just going to have to rescue her and bring her back into the sun.

Up until now Luka had been deluding himself that the ease that he had breached the barrier and made it past the door was due to the king's arrogance. He allowed himself to hope the king had become overconfident in his six hundred-plus years of life, but he had been a fool. The king had made sure that even a full blood dragon would not last long down here. Right now it was a fight for Luka just to keep a tiny candle flame going.

"Wait, I think I found something in one of these pockets." Narumi announced and pulled out a penlight. Checking his own stolen clothes, Luka found one as well. It wasn't much, but it allowed Luka to reserve his fire energy.

They went down another hallway and by now all of them were shivering from the cold. At the end of the hall was another door. Unlike the one above, this one was a small, ornately carved metal door that was secured right into the rock wall. There was no way it would come out as easily as the one above.

The door was so small that an adult would have duck down low to enter, but the lock was what held Luka's attention. The lock was old and sturdy, with a spring loaded trap for anyone who tried to pick it. Well He had just the thing.

"Can I borrow this?" he asked Narumi already trying to relieve him of his rifle. Loud shots rang throughout the corridor, and the lock clattered to the floor.

"You would think the all mighty dragon king would invest in a better door with a better lock." Narumi said in a nasty tone causing Luka to shake his head.

"Dragon's are notoriously greedy about their treasures. Just like upstairs, getting a new door or making a new vault would require letting others know there was something here worth hiding. There is no way he would have allowed anyone this close to it. Aside from him and his clones, we are probably the first ones down here in what could be centuries."

Using the knife from his stolen clothes, he held down the poison, spring loaded trap, while carefully unlatching the door. "I think I've figured out how this place works. It is mostly meant to work against dragons and makes assumptions that no other creature would make it this far. Down here though, a dragon would find it very difficult to keep his power in this cold and dark. Any fire they use would be lost unless they returned to the surface to rejuvenate. By then-"

"By then they would be trapped within the barrier with a whole platoon of guards waiting for them." Narumi finished for him. "Getting in is hard, getting out is harder."

"Yeah." Luka agreed and finished with the latch. Beyond the door caused Luka's breath to catch and he heard Shizune gasp.

The chamber inside was a large cavern and gave them all pause. The roof and the far walls were lost in the shadows, extending far beyond the beams of their tiny penlights. It was mind boggling to think this gigantic space existed under the estate. Scattered around the cavern were dozens of floor to ceiling pillars of ice. _Well, that would certainly explain where the cold was coming from._

Looking closer, Luka noticed that the ice was neither melting, nor was there any device keeping it frozen. The ice had to be magically sustained. As he walked closer to one the columns trying to search for Aoi, the tiny beam from their pen lights set off a myriad of colors in the ice. And that was when he noticed it. Imbedded inside each ice column were dozens of multicolored stones.

Fire and air, it was the dragon king's stash of magical gemstones!

The gemstones were completely encased in pillars of magical ice, in a cold cavern, deep underground. If Luka did not hate the king with everything he had, the draman would be impressed. Any dragon that tried to steal this treasure would surely flame out trying to melt even the first column of ice. Between that and the difficulty of getting back out, maybe the king was a bit overconfident for a reason.

He wasn't here for gems anyway. Looking about the cavern he spotted a lump that looked like it had been tossed into the corner carelessly. "Aoi!" he cried and sprinted over to check on her.

Dropping to his knees Luka carefully reached out to take her into his aching arms. Oh god she felt so good next to him, but she was so pale and sooo cold. The draman instantly fed what little energy he had into her and almost wept in relief when he found she still had energy. His relief was short lived when his fears about the cold had proven true though. Aoi had already slipped into hibernation. If she had remained here even for a few more hours she probably would have died.

Gently, he scooped up his precious bundle and held her close as if body heat alone would help her recover. "Shizune I want you to destroy the pillars." He grated out coldly.

"If I do that while the stones are still frozen in the ice, they would be damaged as well."

"Good." he retorted flatly. The stones could turn to dust for all he cared. But Shizune did not seem convinced. Clearly the brightly colored treasure had caught her in its spell.

"Narumi?" she asked the incubus. "The stones could really help us."

Luka tensed on his way to the door. If they were going to try and steal the treasure, they were on their own. He would leave them to their greed, he had his treasure.

Naru however, did not seem to agree to his companions rationale.

"No. If Yuka were here she would tell you to destroy them as well. She hated those stones and all they represented. She would hate them even further if she knew how they were being used. And she would never want us to keep them around so they could fall into the wrong hands again. Bring them down."

Shizune gave one last disappointed sigh before she followed them out of the room. "You may want to cover your ears for this one." She warned and she let out an almighty shriek that almost made Luka's head explode. His knees began to buckle and he almost dropped Aoi in shock. Gods how could that sound be possible? As soon as it started, it was over, but the pain remained along with the buzzing in his head.

Quite sure that he was now hemorrhaging from the ears, it took Luka a few moments to shake his head clear and continue moving. After a few more minutes his ears stopped ringing and normal sound began to slowly return. At first it was all garbled sound, but eventually words became distinguishable.

"Would you please hurry up before we all die?" He heard Shizune order testily.

"Huh? Why? What happened? Gods! I can barely hear anything. What happened?" Luka asked still trying to shake his head clear.

"It sounds like the walls and ceiling of the cavern are cracking along with the pillars. If we don't start moving, we may end up buried here." she announced trying to get them to move either faster or out of her way. Luka gave Narumi a shocked look then proceeded to sprint up the stairs two at a time.

As they were getting closer to the surface the dragon in Luka could feel the sun coming closer. Soon. They were probably a few more stairwells away, but a resounding crack that he felt all the way to his bones caught them all off guard.

Suddenly cracks and fissures began creeping along to walls and stairs. Dust began to rain down on them. "Run!" he screamed, even though they were pretty much already doing so.

_Move, move, move!_ He willed the dragon within him. By now the cracks were like claws that were chasing them down the tunnels almost as fast as they could run. Luka never had the speed of a full blood, and his dragon had already been pushed to its limits, but if he could call out any scrap of power, now was the time they needed it.

The floor had already begun to shake and rumble when he recognized the first wooden stairwell they had gone down. While they were on it the floor began to pitch and heave violently and they stumbled half a dozen times before they were finally sprinting down the hallway as fast as they could.

"SHIT the barrier!" he shouted. This whole place was going down and if they could not find a way past the barrier, they would go down with it.

"Don't worry, I got it!" Naru yelled back and Luka had no choice but to trust him.

As the outside became visible, he saw several armed guards waiting for them. He might have been concerned about them, but the guards appeared to be having their own trouble keeping their balance.

"Earthquake!" he heard one of them call out. Little did he know he was not too far off.

When the guards spied them coming out, they collectively trained their weapons on them wobbly as they were. Narumi did not allow them to stop. Instead, he grabbed Shizune and Luka and pushed forward towards the barrier. Once they breached it, Narumi and Shizune let loose the full force of their powers, immobilizing them with seduction, while stunning them with sound.

Having left the rifle in the cavern, Luka stayed a bit behind them trying to protect Aoi. Naru's and Shizune's attacks stunned their enemies long enough that they could run past them.

At the same time the ground beneath them gave a pained groan and started collapsing in, ripping the storehouse apart. The guards that had been trying to shake off the dual siren/incubus attack, started to cry out in alarm and those that could move, had no choice but to try and run for their own safety.

Luka and his companions ran with the last bit of energy they had and with a last leap they dove behind the very same rocks they had been using for cover in the first place.

A huge cloud of dust swirled up high in the air, temporarily choking and blinding all of them.

'_Luka!'_ He heard Natsume call frantically in his head. The draman couldn't help but smile.

_I'm alright Natsume. And I have Aoi. _

'_Is she okay?'_ And Luka could hear the love and concern for both he and his mate in his brother's voice. It warmed him to feel such caring.

_She's fallen into hibernation due to cold and being sun starved. It will take some time, but I think she will be fine._

'_The stones?'_

_They are gone._

'_Good. Then take her and go. Just go anywhere that is not here. I'll meet the two of you in Paris in a month.'_ He suggested and Luka cringed at the uneasy feelings he was picking up from his brother behind his bold words. There was almost none of the confidence that Natsume usually had.

_Natsume, Aoi would never want that and you know it._

'_Luka, take your mate and go enjoy your lives. Too much of your happiness has been stolen already.'_

_Natsume, Aoi would need to know you are safe and so would I._ He declared. He and his mate had waited this long, they could wait another day or two in order to make sure he was okay. His brother made a frustrated sound in his head.

'_Fine then. Go meet up with the others. Take care of Aoi and I'll try and meet up with you.'_

_You had better or Aoi will have my hide. _At that Natsume chuckled.

'_Trust me there is a feisty little sea dragon that gives me plenty of reasons to make it through this.' _

_Alright, I'll meet up with the others._ Luka promised, and pulled his mind back in order to not distract his brother further.

Now that the dust had cleared, he turned to look at where the storehouse once stood. Now there was nothing but a giant sink hole filled with rocks and debris. The edges of the hole encompassed the whole clearing and stopped only a handful of meters from them. Gods that was close.

He gave Narumi a look. "How were you able to break the barrier? I thought we were dead there."

The incubus pulled out what looked like an ordinary paper charm. "I found it on one of the guards while Shizune was working on the door. I knew we would need a way to go back through the other way, so I prepared."

Luka let out a quiet laugh. "I've talked with Natsume. I'm going to take Aoi and go. Are you coming?"

The expression on Naru's beautiful face turned cold. "I have things here I need to take care of."

"I'll let Natsume know you are still around causing mischief then." He stated, and respectfully bowed to both of them while Aoi was still in his arms.

TBC

* * *

I'm guessing most of you wondered what happened to me. Suffice to say the last year and a half has been really rough on me. There have been five funerals since I last posted. Yep you read right. Five. Some somewhat expected, some not at all, none welcome.

But life continues on and so must I. Can't stay down forever. Besides, I really want to get back into my writing. I'm still not so confident in this chapter, but here it is.


End file.
